National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has passionately appealed to Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo to reverse recent increase in the tuition fees in state-owned institutions in the state.
NANS National Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Bestman Okereafor, said in a statement on Thursday in Enugu that the reserve became necessary in the interest of the teeming indigent students.
He said the recent increase in the tuition fees was alarming and beyond normal situation, adding that the development would be inimical to educational development of the state, if not reversed.
Okereafor said that students had been paying between N25, 000 and N30, 000 but noted that the fees had been increased to N120,000 and N180,000 respectively in state-owned institutions.
“We are calling on Gov. Akeredolu to as a matter of urgency reverse the anti-students’ policies both in Rufus Giwa Polytechnic; Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba and other state-owned institutions as soon as possible,’’ he said.
He stressed that otherwise; the national secretariat of NANS would be moved to Akure the state capital.
“Unarguably, many female students may be lured into prostitution while the male students may be lured into cultism and armed robbery due to the inability of their parents to pay the proposed tuition fee,’’ he said.
He said that NANS had been uncomfortable with the increase in the tuition fees without due consultations and consideration of the present economic realities in the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Ondo, the state capital, witnessed uneasy calm four days ago as students of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Akoko protested over 500 per cent hike in their tuition fees.
They marched through the streets of the town, joined by market women and caused gridlock as well as lull in commercial and social activities in the area. (NAN)