By Martin Cole-
The Nigerian government is under fire, after its universities raised their fees ten times over to cope with rising prices in the country
Nigerian president Bola Tinubu’s administration at its early stages of government is already sending parents in panic across the country, after academic institutions raised the fees for its already struggling pupils.
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Millions of Nigerian families in West Africa’s populous country are living on the equivalence of £30 a month, with a bag of rice that feeds an entre family costing the equivalence of $40 a month, without mentioning fuel costs or other bills.
The latest announcements has cast a shadow of doubt over the leadership of Mr Tinubu, whose election victory was shrouded in controversy amid allegations of corruption.
Two political parties, the Labour Party and the PDP, are currently in legal proceedings against the president, but supporters of the wealthy businessman had expressed optimism that his administration will bring change to millions of disillusioned Nigerians.
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Some had expressed ope that Tinubu who has been credited for improving Lagos when he was a governor may be able to translate the success at state level to national level.
Many Nigerians are beginning to lose faith in Tinubu’s ability to move Nigeria in the direction it needs to go.
The University of Maiduguri in the Northeast were one of the first to raise their medical students’ tuition to N238,000(£234) in January, up from less than N100,000(£98) Tuition fees for law students were raised from N26,000 to around N104,000.
The fees are expensive by Nigerian standards, but the well off will hardly be affected by the increases.
According to the circular titled, ‘Approved fees/ charges for Federal Unity Colleges (1st term) for new students’, signed by the Director of Senior Secondary Education, Hajia Binta Abdulkadir, new students are expected to pay N100,000 (£98) instead of the previous N45,000.
The latest fee/charge increment will affect virtually all aspects and activities of the schools, including tuition and boarding, uniform, textbooks, exercise books, prospectus, caution fee, identity card, stationery, clubs and societies, sports, extra lesson and insurance, among others.
“Please be informed that the ministry has approved only the under-listed fees and charges for all Unity Colleges,” the memo read in part.
Similarly, the management of the University of Lagos, Akoka, reportedly increased the fees for undergraduates in the institution.
This was contained in a statement dated July 20, 2023, by the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, UNILAG branch, following a meeting with the top management of the institution.
The union said in the statement that fees would be increased for undergraduate students in the next academic session.
Students of the institution previously paid N19,000(£18) for tuition, but the management has now fixed N190,250 (180)for students studying Medicine, while for courses that require laboratories and studios are to pay N140,250.
According to SSANU, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Folasade Ogunsola, met with representatives of the three non-academic staff unions on Thursday to discuss issues concerning members’ welfare.
“During the meeting, the proposed fees for undergraduate students of UNILAG were disclosed. Students without lab and studio use will pay N100,750, those with lab use will pay N140,250 and the College of Medicine will pay N190,250,” the statement said.
The SSANU representative at the meeting, Rasaki Yusuf, however, asked for a rebate for staff members with children in the university, but the vice-chancellor insisted that the new charges were set nationally and could not be modified for specific categories of students.
The UNILAG management also issued a statement confirming thir own rise in fees.
The statement said, “After careful deliberations with its stakeholders (students, parents/guardians, staff unions and alumni, among others), the University of Lagos Management has reviewed the obligatory fees (mandatory charges for an academic session/year) of new and returning undergraduate students of the university.
“The adjustment in fees, which will take effect from the first semester of the 2023/2024 academic session, is in view of the prevailing economic realities and the need for the university to be able to meet its obligations to its students, staff and municipal service providers, among others.
The instiutions sought to rationalise the hike on poor government funding of tertiary education and rising inflation in the country, which shot up to 22.4 per cent, the highest in 17 years, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
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