Federal universities across the country have announced over 200 per cent hike in registration and tuition fees for students, analysis by our correspondent has revealed.
The fee hike announcement came shortly after the suspension of the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities and calls by lecturers and other stakeholders for better funding of the tertiary education system in Nigeria.
ASUU had announced the commencement of a strike in February. The strike, which ended in October, was one of the longest in the history of ASUU strikes since 1999.
Some of the issues raised by the union bordered on the release of revitalisation funds for universities, and increment in the salaries and allowances to university lecturers.
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and its sister group, the Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions, also embarked on strike on issues bordering university funding and staff welfare.
The regime of President Buhari while unveiling its scorecard noted that it had disbursed over N1tn to the tertiary education sector and that “it had no more money” to meet the demands of the union.
During the strike, a former Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, talked about the plan for sustainable funding of the universities, including fee hike, but ASUU kicked against the proposal.
The first time ASUU kicked against the proposal of tuition hike was during the negotiation for the 2018 strike when the chief negotiator, who represented the Federal Government, Wale Babalakin, was said to have proposed that school fees be increased to ensure sustainability in the university system, but ASUU had called for the removal of Babalakin from the negotiation panel.
Findings revealed that some universities announced over 200 per cent hike and also proposed the idea of instalment payment so as not to strain parents who might be finding it tough paying at once.
