Fee Hike: OAU Students Demand Reversal

• Kazeem Badmus

Students of Obafemi Awolowo University OAU, Ile-Ife, Osun State, on Monday, demanded the reversal of the hike in their tuition fee by the Federal Government.

The institution’s Student Union President and General Secretary, Abbas Ojo and Akinboni Sunday, made this demand during a press conference.

OSUN DEFENDER reports that management of the university, last Wednesday, announced adjustments to the fees that students of the institution will be required to pay for the upcoming academic session.

The union demanded that the school management make it a duty to reverse the increment in school fees and “all financial institutions, remita, especially ignore and suspend any payment from OAU pending the time the union will write to them; otherwise, their branches in Ife and OAU campus will be shut down.”

“We’ve also written to all respective banks to halt the acceptance of fee payments from any student until a better resolution has been achieved. As much as we don’t want to, we are currently running out of options and might have to shut down all activities on campus and progressively on all campuses throughout the country if the school authorities remain silent on the issue,” the union added.

The OAU Students’ Union called on the the federal government to take decisive action by providing viable solutions to tackle the increment by increasing the budget allocation for education and ensures that schools are well-equipped, staffed, and capable of providing quality education.

“Implement policies that address the barriers to education, such as ensuring accessibility to schools for students by guiding against arbitrary increment. Enhance investment in lecturer training and professional development programs to improve the quality of instruction. Establish scholarship and financial aid programs to alleviate the burden on students and families,” the union added.