Nigerian governor slashes university’s tuition fees, increases workers’ salaries 

Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State has slashed the tuition fees of the Ebonyi State University by 10 per cent.Mr Nwifuru has also approved the increment of salaries of both academic and non-academic staff of the state-owned institution by 20 and 10 per cent, respectively.

The governor announced this on Saturday during the 12th to 15th combined convocation ceremony of the university, according to a statement by his spokesperson, Monday Uzor, on Sunday.Mr Nwifuru also announced that indigenes of the state who graduate with first-class degrees will be offered automatic employment as graduate assistant lecturers.It is unclear if the government has such or any plan for indigenes of the state who graduate with first-class degrees from other institutions.

The governor added that he had increased the subvention of the university from N200 million to N280 million monthly to boost the morale of university staff and expand access to education in the state.‘Make contributions to the state ’Speaking at the conference, Mr Nwifuru said the ceremony was another opportunity to “reflect, deploy skills and make meaningful contributions” towards the growth of the state and the nation in general.

The governor urged the graduating students to deploy “homegrown solutions to solve homegrown problems” before seeking external assistance.

He asked them to use the knowledge they acquired in the university to solve problems in the country. “You have acquired skills to keep you afloat, not to sink. Having undergone intellectual rigours, you are now equipped with survival skills and ready to solve the problems in the country.“May I urge you to be good progressive ambassadors,” he said.