Academic activities have been paralysed at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) in Ondo State following students’ protest over the 100 per cent hike in the institution’s tuition. 

Last week, FUTA management released a new fee schedule for the 2023/2024 academic session.

The schedule released by the management before resumption showed that the tuition 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. 

The development has forced the students to shut down the campus in a peaceful protest in the early hours of Monday. 

The students barricaded the roads leading into the campus, thus preventing both vehicular and human movement, including workers, from accessing the school. 

The protest also caused heavy traffic jams on the Akure-Ilesha road, with some motorists forced to make a U-turn. 

One of the aggrieved students, Dele Abayomi, told Peoples Gazette that the increment was disappointing. 

“It is disheartening that the school management would have to increase our tuition during this period of excruciating economic downturn. How do they want our parents and sponsors to cope,” said Mr Abayomi.

FUTA’s spokesperson, Adegbenro Adebanjo, could not be immediately reached for comments.