Once more, one other Nigerian college broadcasts price hike

Regardless of President Bola Tinubu’s directive that Nigerian public universities ought to desist from growing the charges payable by college students arbitrarily, the administration of Obafemi Awolowo College (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, on Wednesday, introduced the increment of charges payable by college students.

Mr Tinubu had in a brief assertion in July directed the federal government-owned tertiary establishments towards arbitrary will increase in charges payable, insisting tuition stays free within the establishments.

“President Tinubu has directed the authorities in all Federal Establishments of upper studying to keep away from arbitrary improve in sundry charges payable, and the place doable defer additional will increase, so that folks and college students don’t face too many difficulties,” the federal government posted on Twitter (now X) microblogging platform.

The Everlasting Secretary on the Ministry of Training, Andrew Adejo, just lately mentioned the ministry had stopped approving fee-increment after President Tinubu’s directive.

“The one college that elevated expenses after the signing of the Scholar Loans Act is the College of Lagos. They got here to the ministry with a proposal to Improve their expenses as a result of all governing councils had been dissolved and we gave them approval,” Mr Adejo mentioned in August when he appeared earlier than the advert hoc committee of the Home of Representatives on the implementation of the scholar mortgage legislation.

He mentioned; “…There was a decision from the Home stopping the rise of charges and the president additionally gave a directive stopping any improve in charges and that’s the place it’s, though a number of others have introduced their proposals.”

OAU’s charges

On Wednesday, an announcement by the Public Relations Officer of OAU, Abiodun Olarewaju, introduced the brand new charges, noting that the college adopted the changes at an emergency Senate assembly on Tuesday.

In keeping with the discharge, recent college students within the schools of Arts, Legislation and Humanities, will now pay N151,200 whereas returning college students of the identical schools pays N89,200.

---

The college added that recent college students within the schools of Know-how and Science will now pay N163,200 whereas the returning college students of the identical schools are to pay N101,200.

In the meantime, recent college students of the colleges within the Faculty of Well being Sciences, and Pharmacy are to pay N190,200 and N128,200 for returning college students.

“The authorities of the Obafemi Awolowo College, Ile-Ife, Osun State, have adjusted the charges that college students of the establishment could be paying,” a part of the assertion learn.

“The choice was taken by the Senate of the College at its emergency assembly on Tuesday, twelfth September 2023. The administration, due to this fact, needs the scholars resounding success of their tutorial programmes.”

Established pattern

The price hike, which has develop into a longtime pattern amongst Nigerian public universities, is resulting in outrage amongst college students.

A number of the public universities that just lately elevated faculty charges embody the College of Maiduguri, the College of Benin, Ahmadu Bello College, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa College, the College of Lagos and the College of Abuja.

College students and oldsters are lamenting the event, particularly because of the rising costs of commodity items on account of the removing of petrol subsidy by the Nigerian authorities in Could.

College students of the College of Lagos staged one other protest on Wednesday, demanding a reversal of the increment. College students of the College of Jos additionally took to their faculty entrance, on Tuesday, chanting solidarity songs and carrying placards to protest the price hike of their faculty.

The college directors lamented that the hike in charges turned mandatory because of the growing price of sustaining the faculties and holding workers motivated.

READ ALSO: UNILAG will increase charges as vice-chancellor laments ‘over N150 million’ month-to-month electrical energy invoice

As an example, the UNILAG Vice Chancellor, Folasade Ogunsola, a professor, advised PREMIUM TIMES in an earlier interview that the previous charges regime is not sustainable because the college continues to incur growing bills resulting in income deficits of about N1 billion yearly.

The Vice Chancellor of the College of Abuja, Abdulrasheed Na’Allah, additionally mentioned in Could that the price increment was a results of inflation, the excessive price of sustaining the establishment’s services and delivering world-class schooling.

“These expenses being launched replicate the intense nationwide inflation and the UofA’s willpower that our college students can’t and should not obtain second-class schooling,” he mentioned.

Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Instances in partnership with Report for the World, which matches native newsrooms with gifted rising journalists to report on under-covered points across the globe