OAU students give management 5 days ultimatum to reverse tuition fees

…threaten to shut down school

The Student Union of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife has threatened to shut down the institution if the management fails to reverse the recent increament in the tuition fees.

The Student Union body gave the school authorities five days ultimatum to reverse the tuition fees to the status quo.

Speaking during a world press conference on Monday, held at the Ken Saro Wiwa building of the institution, the Student Union President, Comrade Abbas Akinremi Ojo, with other student body executives disclosed that they had held a meeting with the school management and demanded outright reversal to old regime of school fees.

Ojo vowed that the student union shall continue to stand united and make a difference together.

His words: “Our last congress of Great Ife held on the 14th of September ended with the following resolutions agreed on:

“That the management should make it a duty to reverse the increment in school fees

“All financial institutions, remita, especially ignore and suspend any payment from OAU pending the time the Union will write to them; otherwise, their branches in Ife and OAU campus will be shut down.

“The congress agreed that the university management be given a 5-day ultimatum to engage the leadership of the Union. Afterward, we hit the street and shut down the activities on campus and the entire country if the ultimatum isn’t met.

“As a student body, we’ve played our part in these resolutions by holding a Twitter space with over 4000 students in attendance who all consensually agree the fee hike is way out of pocket.

‘We’ve also written to all respective banks to halt the acceptance of fee payments from any student until a better resolution has been achieved. As much as we don’t want to, we are currently running out of options and might have to shut down all activities on campus and progressively on all campuses throughout the country if the school authorities remain adamant

“While the school authority got excuse for School fee hike is that the Federal Government has stopped funding OAU.”

Ojo said that inadequate funding has limited access to quality education, hinder academic resources, and already created many financial burdens for students and their families.

He noted that with rising school fees and limited access to scholarships, families must bear the financial strain of ensuring their children receive a decent education.

“This perpetuates a cycle of inequality, as those from less privileged backgrounds are further marginalized, hindering their chances of upward social mobility. We must address this issue and alleviate the burden on these families,

“It’s bothersome that students of a fedyeral University like OAU pay a fee over a hundred thousand naira and that fresh students pay almost double-in a school where many students have single parents that are government workers earning a minimum wage of thirty thousand naira,” he added.

While saying that all hope is not lost as there are viable solutions to tackle this problem, he called on the Federal Government to take decisive action to address the situation.

He said government should realise that education and as such should be treated as a fundamental right rather than a privilege it entails.

“I urge the federal government to prioritize education and recognize the urgent need to alleviate these funding anomalies. As stewards of our nation’s progress, they must invest in future generations and create an environment where every student, regardless of their background, has an equal opportunity to excel.

“It is only through collective action that we can bring about positive change and build a brighter future for Nigeria,” Ojo stated.