The leadership of the umbrella body of students across tertiary institutions in Nigeria has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to investigate and sack the university Vice Chancellor who is trying to sabotage the student loan initiative of his administration through arbitrary and insensitive increment in tuition fees.
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in a statement signed by its President of Senate, Akinteye Afeez Babatunde also appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to rise up against plans by some VCs to make life more difficult for the masses, insisting that: “Education should be made affordable and accessible to all, not used as a tool for exploitation.”
While stressing the commitment of NANS leadership to defending the interests of Nigerian students and ensuring success of the Student Loan Scheme, Akinteye’s statement berated the ‘recent moves by some Vice Chancellors across universities in Nigeria, including the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), and the University of Ibadan (UI), who are reportedly planning unjustifiable increments in tuition and other fees”
The statement read: “It has come to our attention that these Vice Chancellors are hatching plans that will undermine President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration’s noble objective of providing accessible education through the Student Loan Scheme.
“This scheme was meant to offer relief to students and their families by addressing the financial constraints faced by many Nigerian students in accessing quality education.
“However, instead of working in harmony with this initiative, NANS’ noted that the leadership of certain institutions has chosen to pursue reckless fee hikes that will inevitably discourage students from benefiting from the loan scheme. These planned increases are not only insensitive but also represent a deliberate attempt to sabotage the future of Nigerian students.
Calling on the president to investigate the “anti-student agenda”, NANS said the “senseless actions are clearly designed to frustrate the successful implementation of the Federal Government’s newly introduced Student Loan Scheme” vowing that inconsiderate, insensitive and arbitrary fee bikes will not be tolerated.
“We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently investigate this anti-student agenda and take decisive action by sacking these Vice Chancellors who are determined to obstruct educational progress. Any such move to inflate fees under the guise of institutional development or financial constraints is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the Nigerian student body.
“We also call on all well-meaning Nigerians, parents, and education stakeholders to join us in resisting these oppressive and senseless fee increments. Education should be made affordable and accessible to all, not used as a tool for exploitation.
