Nigeria Students Cry Out Over Fee Hike In Some Federal Universities

Nigerian students under the aegis of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) have cried out over the increase of fees by some management of some federal universities.

Naija News gathered that NANS is against the recent decision by some federal universities to increase registration and tuition fees for students.

It was learnt that the association’s South West Coordinator, Emmanuel Olatunji, disclosed the group’s displeasure about the incident to Punch.

According to him, NANS has set up a committee to look into the matter and negotiate with the authorities of the affected universities on behalf of the students.

He stated that “A committee has been set up across all the six zones in which coordinators of the zones are to work with the Secretary-General.

“The committees are to write to all schools in their zones to negotiate with them on behalf of the NANS President.”

Naija News gathered that some universities indeed announced a hike in fees recently at some public universities.

It was learnt that some of the universities that have announced a hike in fees include the Federal University, Dutse which recently announced a 200%hike in fees.

The management of the University of Maiduguri is also reported to have increased fees claiming the inflation in the country warranted it, and also the Federal University, Lafia in Nasarawa State is said to have also increased registration fees of students to N150, 000 for some programmes.

Other institutions include the University of Uyo, which is reported to also have announced an increment with both new and returning students expected to pay over N100, 000 as against the N50, 000 old fees.

The Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, also increased its fees because of the cost of providing services to students.

However, Naija News learnt from Punch that while the National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, refused to comment on the development some universities dons have different opinions about the issue.

A former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Uyo, Prof Ini Uko told Punch that it was time for parents and students to wake up and question the Federal Government over the funding of tertiary education.

For the Programme Director of Reform Education Nigeria, Ayodamola Oluwatoyin, how are parents expected to pay such a fee hike when the minimum wage they receive N30, 000.

Oluwatoyin said to Punch that “This is a very difficult matter to judge. However, with the rising inflation, it is going to be hard for parents to start paying huge amounts of money for fees.

“The minimum wage is N30, 000; how do they expect parents to cope with over N250, 000 per session? The government of Nigeria has failed over time to invest fully in the sustenance of tertiary education. It is unfair that with the poor minimum wage, parents still have to struggle to pay. However, you also cannot fault the universities, they need to sustain themselves. The government needs to wake up to its responsibilities.”