The management of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) in Ondo State has justified the increment in the school fee amid protests by undergraduates. 

Last week, the university authorities announced the tuition fee was raised from N29,000 to N131,000 for the old students while the fees for freshers were raised from N108,000 to N240,000 for the undergraduates. 

Peoples Gazette earlier on Monday reported that the increment forced the students to shut down the campus and barricade the roads leading into it, thus preventing vehicular and human movement.

But justifying the increment in a press statement, the spokesperson for the university, Adegbenro Adebanjo, said the management’s decision was based on the economic reality in the country. 

Mr Adebanjo, who claimed the increment was necessary, explained that the costs of services provided to the students by the management had shot up due to the harsh economy.

“On the proposed new fees and charges, they are mainly for student-related services, which are sourced from the economy. And the costs of such goods and services provided by the university for the students will certainly be impacted by costs of goods and services in the economy.

“To ensure the smooth running of the university, certain consumables and payments for municipal services such as electricity, water, hostel maintenance and cleaning and sundry other services are necessary, and the costs of providing the services have shot up, and the new charges are in response to this.

“Other costs that were adjusted as a result of economic reality include medical examination for all new students, Biometric ID cards and Tertiary Institutions Students Health Insurance Programme TISHIP administered by NHIS for students, and final yearbook,” he said in the copy of the statement obtained by The Gazette. 

Following the protest, Mr Adegbenro revealed that the management had ordered the indefinite postponement of the resumption for the 2023/2024 academic session.

He added that authorities also directed that all students currently on campus and in hostels within the university vacate them within 24 hours.

“The management also directed that registration of returning students via the university portal and payment of fees by all returning students for the new academic session via the portal scheduled to begin on Monday, January 15, 2024, be put on hold.

“It is important to state that the university DID NOT open the portal for registration for returning students for the new session contrary to what was being bandied in the public domain,” Mr Adegbenro said.

Earlier, the president of the school’s Students Union Government, Olayemi Oluwasoromidayo, pleaded with the management to maintain the previous school fees, citing the economic downturn in the country.  

Mr Oluwasoromidayi, who hinted that the student body had met with the management several times on the planned increment, wondered why the authorities refused to listen to their plea. 

He vowed that he was prepared to mobilise more students to pressure the school management led by its Vice Chancellor, Adenike Oladiji, to listen to their demands by reverting to the old payment. 

The Gazette reports the campus has already been surrounded by the police and State Security Service (SSS) to avoid a breakdown of law and order.