FEE HIKE: NANS KNOCKS OAU, STUDENTS MULL PROTEST MONDAY 

The National Association of Nigerian Students has tackled the management of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, over the increment in its tuition fees.NANS Public Relations Officer, Giwa Temitope, in a statement sent to The PUNCH on Sunday, said the association had been observing with keen interest the events unfolding in the OAU and “the insistence of the university management to increase fees despite the directive of the Federal Government that universities should put fee increments on hold.

”The OAU management last week after an initial fee increment, slashed the fees by less than 50% following a meeting it held with the student leaders. But the students’ School Fees Review Committee tagged the reduction as “meagre.”“We unequivocally reject this meagre reduction, as the newly proposed fees remain unaffordable for most of our students and fall significantly short of the 50 per cent reduction demanded by our union,” the chairman of the committee, Olugbade Majeed, alongside other executive members, said in a statement.

The spokesperson for the management, Abiodun Olarewaju, had said that the students’ union leaders were adamant, insisting that the fees should be reduced by 50%.Olarewaju added that late September the management made it clear the new charges were the minimum the university required to run efficiently.“For those in the Sciences and Technology, the initial charge of N101,200, for returning students is now N86,000 while the new students in the same faculties will now pay N141,000 instead of the initial N163,200. “In the same vein, the returning students in the Pharmacy and College of Health Sciences will now pay N109,000, instead of #128,200. The new students in the same Faculties will now pay N164,000 instead of the initial charges of N190,000,” a statement by the university PRO partly read.But reacting, NANS said, “We have been duly informed that despite the fact that the students’ union of the institution shifted ground from a total reversal during their meeting with the management to demand a 50% cut in the fees, the management insisted that such won’t be possible.”Giwa noted that students were major stakeholders in every institution of learning, hence, their demands must be taken seriously. “As an association, we declare that we are in solidarity with students of OAU as they fight fee increment, and we call on the management of the institution to listen to the voice of reason by agreeing to slash the fees by 50% as proposed by the students’ union,” Giwa added.

Meanwhile, TEAM PLATO REPORTS gathered that the OAU Students’ Union President, Abass Akinremi, had in a message sent to the students on Saturday, mulled a Monday protest, saying the union had exhausted consultations.

Akinremi said the union decided to wait till Monday for the demonstration because it would be a public holiday.“Instead of celebrating Nigeria’s independence, we want to show our displeasure to both the Federal Government and the school management that our rights are being taken from us and we don’t have educational independence,” the president stated.