Federal University, Lokoja’s vice chancellor, prof. Olayemi Akinwumi, has come under fire from some parents of students for allegedly constantly raising the tuition their children must pay.
The parents spoke out during a demonstration against what they claimed was a tuition increase of 300% at the school on Tuesday in Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State.
The parents charged the vice chancellor with plotting to prevent their children from receiving a university education as they marched around the school’s grounds while chanting songs of solidarity.
The parents bemoaned the fact that their salaries have not increased while the country’s overall cost of living has increased while pledging to continue the protest until the university’s administration reverses the hike.
The protest’s organiser, Mr. Moses Abraham, told reporters that the higher tuition was a plan to deny Nigerians from disadvantaged backgrounds the opportunity to attend university.
Abraham said that the increment was too high for parents to bear.
He, therefore, called on the Federal Government, through the Minister of Education, to prevail on the university management to reverse the hike to avert a violent protest.
“The Vice Chancellor is a civil servant and we expect that he should be aware of the current economic challenges Nigerians are passing through.
He wondered how parents could afford the hike “when sources of income remain stagnant”.
Another parent, Mrs Florence Anachebe, said, “When the Federal Government established the university few years ago, we were happy.
“Unfortunately, the current vice chancellor wants to deny us the opportunity to train our children in the university.
”Since he came, he has virtually increased all charges and now the school fees.”
In a reaction, the university’s Public Relation Office, Mr Daniel Iyke, said there has not been any official release of any increase in the university’s fees.
Iyke said that the hike in tuition fees had become inevitable since the Federal Government could no longer fund education alone.
He, therefore, said that it would not be out of place for the university to consider a review of its fees.
“However, it will be important for parents, students and the public to wait for official pronouncement by the authorities before complaining,” Iyke said.