Students enrolled in Ogun State-owned tertiary institutions are calling for the immediate rollback of tuition increases.
Organized under the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Ogun State, the students expressed dismay, alleging that the tuition hike is intended to create hardship for both them and the state’s populace.
NANS Chairman, Francis Adeyanju, spoke out against what he deemed an “abnormal” rise in fees for state-owned tertiary institutions during a press conference in Abeokuta on Thursday. Adeyanju warned of impending mass protests, vowing to shut down the state if the government does not revert to the previous tuition fees within the next four days.
Accompanied by Kehinde Mathew, the National President of the National Association of Ogun State Students (NAOSS), Adeyanju criticized the fee increase as an effort to hinder financially disadvantaged students in the state from accessing affordable and quality education. He expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s perceived insensitivity to the students’ plight and the overall development of education in the state.
“It is no rumor that the government has almost abandoned tertiary education. This is evident in the current deplorable state of our campuses across the state. Our schools are now filled with decaying infrastructure, inadequate teaching and nonteaching staff, unconducive learning environment and salaries of staff are being owed,” he said.
“Most pathetic is the recent hike in school fees across our tertiary institutions. This is unfair and unacceptable. At Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), returning students are now to pay N180,000 as against N76,500 per session, while new students are now to pay as much as N230,000.”
“The school fees of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) have been jacked up from N62,000 to N120,000 for Science students, while non-science students are to pay between N150,000 to N155,000 as against N55,000.”
“For Ogun State Polytechnic of Health and Allied Sciences, the school fees were increased from N67,000 to N109,000 for indigenous students, while non-indigenous students are now to pay N124,000 as against N77,400. These are just a few examples of the abnormal increment in school fees of tertiary institutions in the State.”
“There is no excuse for any government to increase school fees abnormally for whatsoever reason. In as much as we are concerned as progressive-minded Nigerian students’ leaders, we believe the government is at liberty to diversify and seek funds, but tertiary institutions should not be seen as an avenue to source funds.”
“Tertiary institutions should not be seen as an avenue to generate IGR, rather they should be seen as an avenue to prepare the youths for the future in order for us to take our leadership positions.”
“We hereby give the Ogun State Government a four-day ultimatum to reverse all increments in state-owned institutions.”
“If nothing is done at the expiration of the ultimatum, we will mobilise our students across the state and shut down the state in a mass protest until our demands are met.”