FUTA postpones resumption as students protest fee hike

• The management directed that registration of returning students via the university portal and payment of fees by all returning students for the new academic session via the portal scheduled to begin on Monday, January 15, 2024, be put on hold

The management of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA, has postponed indefinitely the resumption of students for the 2023–2024 academic year.

This is just as students, under the auspices of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Ondo Axis, on Monday protested the proposed hike in fees by the institution.

The management, in a statement by the Director, Corporate Communications, Mr Adegbenro Adebanjo, also directed all students currently on campus and in university hostels to vacate within 24 hours.

“The management also directed that registration of returning students via the university portal and payment of fees by all returning students for the new academic session via the portal scheduled to begin on Monday, January 15, 2024, be put on hold.

“It is important to state that the university did not open the portal for registration for returning students for the new session, contrary to what was being bandied in the public domain.

“On the proposed new fees and charges, they are mainly for student-related services, which are sourced from the economy. And the costs of such goods and services provided by the university for the students will certainly be impacted by the costs of goods and services in the economy.

“To ensure the smooth running of the university, certain consumables and payments for municipal services such as electricity, water, hostel maintenance and cleaning, and sundry other services are necessary, and the costs of providing the services have shot up, and the new charges are in response to this.

“Other costs that were adjusted as a result of economic reality include medical examinations for all new students, biometric ID cards, and Tertiary Institutions Students Health Insurance Programme (TISHIP) administered by NHIS for students, and the final yearbook.

“The management reiterates that tuition remains free for all students and that it has inbuilt mechanisms within the system to look into and build consensus on matters affecting students, including charges and fees. And that mechanism is working on this matter, and consensus will be achieved,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, NANS, Ondo Axis, also on Monday described the proposed fee hike by FUTA as unacceptable.

The Acting Chairman, Comrade Salami Rosheed, said the student body would not accept such a fee hike.

“The proposed fee hike is unacceptable to us. Already, many students are finding it difficult to cope with the current fee regime. Only last year, FUTA increased some fees, and they are doing it this year again. Do they want to make it a yearly affair? The economic situation in the country is bad too, and many parents and guardians are not finding it easy.

“Education should not be taken away from the masses and their children. It is their right, and we won’t rest until this hike is reviewed. Nigeria needs to encourage the youths to be educated, not that they should be made to drop out of school, ” he stated.