The National Association of Nigerian Students has given the management of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti, five working days to reverse the recent increase in students’ fees, threatening mass protests if the directive is ignored.
NANS described the increment as unacceptable, arguing that it would worsen the financial difficulties facing students and their families amid prevailing economic challenges.
The NANS Joint Campus Committee Chairman in Ekiti State, Yekeen Toheeb; General Secretary, Olumorin Folafoluwa; and Public Relations Officer, Ekundayo Goodluck, stated this in a statement issued in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday.
The student leaders said the management must restore the previous fee structure, insisting that any partial reduction or alternative arrangement would not address their concerns.
“NANS demands immediate and total reversal of the increased tuition fees. No partial reduction, temporary adjustment or resort to cunning alternative arrangements will be accepted as a substitute for a complete abolition.
“We, therefore, give the management five-working days’ ultimatum from the issuance of this statement to reverse the increased fees and restore the previous fee structure. Failure to comply will compel NANS JCC, Ekiti Axis, to mobilise students for lawful mass action and other legitimate forms of protest.
“The management must take responsibility for the financial implications of its decision and ensure that students are not subjected to additional hardship,” they stated.
NANS also urged students of the institution to disregard the increase and suspend further payments until the management reverses its decision.
The association expressed concern that the timing of the increment could affect students who had already applied for loans under the Nigerian Education Loan Fund based on the previous fee structure.
The students’ body said “increasing school fees midway when students had already applied for the Nigerian Education Loan Fund codenamed “Students’ loan” after approval had been gotten based on previous charges, may disrupt disbursement process by the Federal Government’s agency and defeat the intention behind its establishment”.
However, the institution said it would announce its position after a stakeholders’ meeting scheduled for Thursday.
The Polytechnic’s Public Relations Officer, Kayode Adebusuyi, said the management had responded to a letter from NANS and would discuss the issue with the students’ body and other stakeholders.
“The management of Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti, upon receiving a letter from NANS on the issue, has responded and will hold a stakeholders’ meeting including NANS tomorrow (Thursday). We will make the position known after the meeting”.
Adebusuyi added that the institution had always operated with a human face, clarifying that the charges imposed by the school were service charges rather than school or tuition fees.
