Barrister Segun Odubela - Ogun State Commissioner for Education
Barrister Segun Odubela - Ogun State Commissioner for Education
The Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) Unit of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) has rejected the reduction in fees for tertiary institutions in Nigeria's Ogun State announced by the government yesterday, describing it as "hypocritical."
The State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology - Barrister Segun Odubela announced the reduction which will take effect from the next academic session.
A Press Release issued by James Taiwo Ogunjimi, the Coordinator of CDHR at the University, said: "First, the reduction announced does not agree with the collective decision of OOU students that they would not pay any amount higher than N50,000. The students made it crystal clear to both the Students Union representatives and the university management that they would accept nothing more than N50,000."
Ogunjimi added: "We are not fools. We know what we want and we will not stop until we get it. The reduction Governor Amosun announced is a joke; we refuse to take it serious."
Ogunjimi threatened that: "Since Governor Amosun has decided not to implement the demands of OOU Students, we are prepared to start cooking beans and frying Akara at Oke-Imosan. OOU Students are prepared to remain on the streets until the real reduction we want is implemented."
It will be recalled that following deliberations between the State government, leadership of the various Students’ Unions and heads of the institutions, the Governor - Senator Ibikunle Amosun approved an across-the-board reduction in fees at all State-owned Tertiary institutions yesterday.In the new school fees regime, some students will pay 61 percent less than they are currently paying while some others will be paying as low as N29,700.
The new school fees regime also abolished the indigene/non-indigene dichotomy as all students offering the same course and the same level will pay the same fees.
Odubela stated that medical students of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) who are paying N301,610 will now be paying N176,596, a 41.4 percent reduction.
Also, students of the Faculty of Arts in the same university will be paying N81,112 instead of the current fee of N126,540, a 35.9 percent reduction.
At Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, the school fees have been reduced from N71,300 to N40,000 for Higher National Diploma (HND) while Ordinary National Diploma (OND) students will enjoying a reduction of N22,300, a reduction of between 31.1 and 9.6 percent respectively.
Students of Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED) will enjoy a reduction from N103,435 for the first year students to N75,000, representing 27.5 percent reduction, while returning students who are paying N93,465 will now be paying N65,000, representing 30.4 percent reduction.
Higher National Diploma (HND) students of Ogun State Institute of Technology, Igbesa who are currently paying N118,000 will now be paying N46,000, a reduction of 61 percent.
The reduction of fees will also apply to the other three (3) Institutes of Technology owned by the State Government.
"The reduction of fees will take effect from the 2014/2015 academic session," Odubela said.
The Government also donated thirteen (13) buses to the Student Unions of all State and Federal Institutions in the State, and the State's Chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).