Poor Funding of Varsity Leads to 340% Increment in Tuition Fees – FULOKOJA VC 

The Vice-chancellor of the federal university of lokoja (fulokoja), Prof. Akinwumi Olayemi has said that the 340% increment in tution fee for the 2022/2023 academic session was owing to the paucity of funds geared towards the educational sector in Nigeria,particulary the Federal university of lokoja by the Federal government.

In a meeting held yesterday,14th of march,2023 at the conference room of the college of Health sciences,Adankolo campus,chaired by the VC,the leaders of the students’ union ful ably led by its president-elect- Comr.Agada idoko achiever,as well as other students’ representatives within and outside the University including the National association of kogi state students (NAKOSS), and the national association of nigerian students (NANS).

The Vice-chancellor who Identified with the students and lent a listening ear to their pleas for a review of the new school charges,said that he was not unaware of the plights of the students over the new development,but that the hike in the fees,which was necessitated as a result of the Government’s inability to fund education like before,was not peculiar to FUL alone.

He lamented that upon assumption of office in february 2021,he stated clearly that he would be the last person to ever support the idea of increasing school charges as it was not on his agenda,but the recent happenings in the tertiary education sector nationwide,especially Federal universities,and the seeming difficulty in providing some essential services to the students have brought about the sad and inevitable reality.

He maintained that most of the projects executed and being carried out by his administration were personal efforts aimed at developing the fledgling university despite the paucity of funds. He added that as a chief executive who is passionate about the progress of the twelve-year-old Institution,he didn’t just sit comfortably in his office and lament over the deplorable state of education in the country,but rather by thinking outside the box and going the extra mile,he was able to attract such development to FUL.

The Vice Chancellor,however,urged the student body to channel their appeal to the appropriate authority which is the University’s Governing council for consideration. while assuring the SU leaders that he would personally facilitate and lead them for a meeting with the Pro-chancellor and Council chairman with a view to addressing the issue amicably,he further advised them to immediately come up with a formal letter or proposal and ensure that they get their facts rights to be forwarded to council which is the highest decision-making body of the university that has the statutory power to decide on the matter.

Also in attendance at the crucial meeting were the Dean of Student Affairs,Prof. Abdullahi Musa Yusuf,the Chief security officer,Rtd col. Babafemi sunday mepaiyeda (Rtd), and officials from the Department of state sevices (DSS),among other stakeholders who were present during the fruitful discussion.

It could be recalled that the university management on 20th January,2023 met with all the students’ representatives in the university where he earlier informed them about the Impending and inevitable hike in school charges.