FUTA Students Protest Fee Hike, Management Closes School Indefinitely

Students of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) in Ondo state staged a protest on Monday against the proposed increase in their fees by the university management. The management had earlier announced its intention to raise the fees to cover the rising costs of student-related and municipal services, such as electricity, water, hostel maintenance, and cleaning.

The students, however, rejected the fee hike and blocked the main gate of the university, preventing the movement of people and vehicles. They demanded that the management revert to the previous fee structure and maintain the fees from the previous year.

The president of the students’ union government, Olayemi Oluwasoromidayo, said the students had held several talks with the management on the issue, but their demands were ignored. He said the new fees were exorbitant and unaffordable for many students. He said the new students would have to pay over N200,000, while the old students would have to pay N130,000, compared to the N35,000 they used to pay.

Oluwasoromidayo vowed that the protest would continue until the management addressed their grievances.

In a bid to quell the protest, the FUTA management decided to shut down the school indefinitely and postpone the resumption of students for the 2023/2024 academic session. The management also directed all students living on campus or in the university hostels to vacate within 24 hours. The registration process and the payment of fees for returning students were also suspended.

The director of corporate communications, Adegbenro Adebanjo, explained that the fee hike was necessitated by the economic reality and the need to ensure the smooth running of the university. He said the fees were mainly for student-related services that were sourced from the economy and affected by the inflation.

Adebanjo also said that other costs that were revised include medical examinations for new students, biometric ID cards, students health insurance programme (TISHIP), and final-year book. He stressed that tuition was free and no tuition fee was charged.

He added that the management had a mechanism to look into and build consensus on matters affecting students, including fees and charges. He said that mechanism was working on the issue and consensus would be achieved.