By Victor Akinkuolie, Ado-Ekiti

Palpable tension continues to mount at Ekiti State University over plans by the students to embark on a protest against the recent move by the management of the institution to increase tuition fees.

The management of the university had recently announced a fifty percent increase and marginal adjustment in the fees to be paid by both prospective and returning students for the 2024/2025 academic session.

The university management cited what it called “economic realities” and other issues affecting the institution as reasons for the hike in fees.

In response to the development, the students’ body and other relevant stakeholders at the university have planned to stage a protest to express their opposition to the institution’s decision.

In a statement, the National Association of Nigerian Students, South-West Zone D, condemned the development, describing the fee increase as a substantial hike and a mere manipulation of the collective intelligence of the students, parents, and guardians of the institution.

The statement, signed by Comrade Taiwo Owolewa (Coordinator, National Association of Nigerian Students Zone D), General Secretary Oluwole Olutunde, and Public Relations Officer Kuku Eromidayo, urged the institution to explore other avenues to increase its internally generated revenue to complement government subvention, rather than raising school fees.

The students’ body, which threatened to embark on a mass protest if the management failed to reverse its decision on the fee hike, also suggested that the university urgently explore diverse human resources capacity and ingenuity to improve IGR, instead of resorting to the “cheap way out” of increasing school fees.

“This is purely an indictment of the management, council, and the university’s lack of ideas. The insinuations in the press release that Ekiti State University’s school fees are affordable compared to other state institutions are erroneous and a direct misrepresentation of facts, as only a few state universities in Nigeria charge higher fees than EKSU,” the statement said.

“The insinuation is self-serving and self-justifying. It doesn’t change the fact that the hike in fees at this critical time is cruel, inhumane, and unacceptable.

“We therefore stand by our earlier press statement that the fee hike should be reviewed downward, and our consultative agreement with the management prior to the increase should be honoured.

“Failure to do this will trigger our proposed plan to ensure this fee hike does not stand.”