Despite increasing its tuition fee by about 100 per cent in 2023, the University of Abuja’s management has levied an extra N5,000 on Law, Arts, Social and Management Sciences students for the 2023/2024 session.
The development came as a shock to many, given the already financial strain caused by the recent increase in tuition fees and the worsening economic crisis in the country.
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The ICIR gathered that the university raised the school fee to include the fee for laboratory coat after some students already paid the initial amount, thus mandating them to make an additional N5,000 payment to the school.
Students who spoke with The ICIR decried the additional payment and demanded that the management explain why students who would not be using laboratories during their stay in the school would pay for the laboratory coat.
This was despite the reactions that trailed the university management’s increment of the students’ fees in 2023.
The ICIR gathered that sequel to the introduction of the laboratory coat fee, the university’s returning students in the Arts and related faculties pay between N82,000 to N115,500 while their medical counterparts pay N225,000.
The fees also differ from the acceptance fee of N30,000 and other departmental and Students’ Union Government (SUG) fees.
For instance, a Law students in the 400 level paid N66,500 in 2022, but they have been paying N115,000 since the increment was implemented in 2023. With the addition of the laboratory fee, Law students will now be paying N120,500 this session.
Also, returning students of English and Sociology paid N48,000 before the tuition hike in 2023, but with the increase in school fees and the addition of laboratory coat fees, they will be paying N87,000 and N94,000, respectively.
The increase in fees was not a welcome development for certain students, but they could not voice their concerns due to the warning message issued by the vice-chancellor, Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah.
Na’Allah had warned that any student planning to disrupt the peace in the school because of the fee hike would face severe consequences of their action.
According to him, any student caught engaging in violent activities on campus would face the penalty, including expulsion.
The threat eventually led to the expulsion of Cyprian Igwe, an undergraduate Sociology department student, who urged his colleagues to dialogue on the school’s hike of its fees.
The student, along with one Oladeru Samson Olamilelkan, the Students’ Union’s director of Sports, was “banned from all the university campuses pending the determination of the case” for allegedly calling for a protest.
Students groan over increment
Some students who spoke with The ICIR under anonymity for fear of reprisal from the management called for the reversal of the new development, citing the current hardship.
The students expressed strong opposition to the decision, noting that it had placed an unfair financial burden on their parents, with some also raising concerns about the management’s lack of fair hearing from the students.
They argued that such a financial burden would affect students from poor and middle-income households.
Management, SU keep mum
Meanwhile, The ICIR reached out to the university’s director of information, Habeeb Yakoob who did not pick up his call and return messages sent to his line on the matter as of the time filing this report.
Similarly, Students’ Union president Emito Emmanuel Ayandayo’s line was not reachable when The ICIR contacted her line while messages sent to her Whatsapp were not answered.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M
What is the rationale behind the University of Abuja’s decision to impose a ₦5,000 fee on Law, Arts, and other non-science students for lab coats?