By Oluwatosin Maliki
The management of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, has announced adjustment to the fees of students in the institution to be paid by both it’s new and returning students for the new academic session.
Abiodun Olarewaju, the Public Relations Officer of the University, in a release made available to newsmen on Wednesday stated that for those in the Faculties of Arts, Law and Humanities , the ‘freshers’ (newly admitted students) will pay N151, 200 while returning students of the same faculties will pay N89,200.
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According to the statement, “For those in the Faculties of Technology and Science, the new students will pay N163, 200 and the returning students of the same faculties are to pay N101, 200.
“In addition, the new students being admitted into the Faculties in the College of Health Sciences, and the Faculty of Pharmacy are to pay N190, 200 ( new students) and N128, 200 ( returning students) respectively.
“The decision was taken by the Senate of the University at its emergency meeting on Tuesday, 12th September, 2023.
“The management, therefore, wishes the students resounding success in their academic programmes.
“The above adjustable fees are just for an academic session.”
However Quest Times gathered that returning students in the Faculties of Arts, Law and Humanities paid about N23,000 before, while the returning students of the College of Health Sciences, before this development, paid N31,000.
Following this development, the leadership of the student’s union of the institution has outrightly condemned the increments and declared that it would not stand.
In a statement signed by the Abbas Ojo, Akinboni Opeyemi, President and Secretary General of the union respectively expressed their displeasure, saying they were not involved in how the new fees came about.
The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to a proposed school fees change circulating. We are stating our displeasure with the management of Obafemi Awolowo University, as the Federal Government has debunked involvement in any form of increment in tuition fees.
“The leadership of the Student’s Union, privy to the incessant increment in other Federal Higher Institutions, has been working tirelessly to ensure Obafemi Awolowo University is kept out of the trending hike in fees.
“While the leadership of the union is dissatisfied with this inimical increment, we want to use this medium to address our union members and urge them to remain calm, as all hands are on deck.
”We are going to exhaust all reasonable options that will be soothing to the common student that we all are. We will reach out to the necessary quarters on how to rectify this, bring back normalcy, and what can be generally accepted,” the statement read.
The institution noted that the fee modification which takes effect from the 2023/2024 academic session, has been established to ensure a fair and balanced fee structure throughout the university’s faculties.
With this new development, OAU joins some other federal universities that have increased tuition fees recently.
Recall that students in the University of Lagos have staged a protest twice in one week over the hike in tuition fees by the institution.
Their counterparts in the University of Jos also came out en masse to protest the hike in tuition fees with students from both institutions calling on concerned parties to come to their aid.
