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- Students defy heavy rain, resume protest over school fees
By Gabriel Dike, Lagos
Following the expiration of a 48-hour ultimatum issued by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka resumed their protest against the recent fee hike by the university management.
The students defied the early morning heavy downpour with big banners and staged the protest in the presence of armed policemen.
NANS and the Joint Campus Committee (JCC) Lagos, a day after their protest last week in which four union leaders were arrested by the police, gave the UNILAG management 48 hours at a briefing to rescind the fee increment or face another round of protest.
The aggrieved student leaders on Wednesday kept to their threat as they staged protests against the university management and demanded the reversal of the fee hike and the return of the student union.
Early Wednesday morning, the students with large banners gathered to stage their second protest against the recent fee increment while the policemen monitored their protest.
One of the student leaders told the Daily Sun that their demands are twofold; the reversal of the fee increment and reinstatement of the disbanded Students Union.
The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) in reaction to the resumed protest said whether the UNILAG Management likes it or not, they would have to reverse the fee hike.
The National Coordinator of ERC, Hassan Taiwo said: “This is not a question of if but when. Every talk of palliative is a gimmick to hoodwink students to accept a policy that will send them on an academic journey of no return. And that is not all, they must also reinstate the students’ union. It is the prolonged absence of independent and democratic student unionism on the campus that has contributed to the current situation where authorities decide to impose a policy that can truncate students future without the decency of consulting them.”
According to him, the desperate manner the UNILAG Vice Chancellor has carried on is an obvious intent to impose the fee hike despite rejection of the same by students, which shows that the motivation for increasing the fees in the first place is not about meeting the funding shortfall of the university.”
Taiwo added: “Were this to be the true motivation behind the hike, then the authorities ought to have listened to students, who have canvassed alternative approach to addressing the funding shortfall by way of asking the Federal Government to increase budgetary allocation to education.
“We are aware that the NANS president and his team plan to meet the management tomorrow. Even though we hold strong reservations about how the NANS president and leadership failed to carry along the students and activists, who have been at the barricades for weeks now before accepting the management invitation, we however urge the NANS president to use the opportunity of the meeting to stress the key demands of the students, which is reversal of fee hike, reinstatement of students unionism and proper funding of public education.”
In a related development, UNILAG management has called for calm over the tension generated by the fee hike.
A statement by the university management dated Wednesday, September 13, 2023, said it has continued to hold engagement with various stakeholders on the recent review of obligatory fees.
The university confirmed that it would meet with the NANS president tomorrow (today) and reassured the university community and public of the numerous measures taken to support students due to the review fees.
The statement urged its students and other members of the university community to remain calm and go about their legitimate activities peacefully.
