Students Seek Tinubu’s Intervention On Tuition Fee Increment, Condemn Ilesa Cult Killings

Yusuf Oketola

THE Osun State Campus Monitoring Committee of National Association of University Students (NAUS) has called on President Bola Tinubu to take measures that can address the astronomical increase of tuition fees in public tertiary institutions in the country. 

The student body lamented the recent increase of tuition fees of federal universities, especially Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, maintaining that high cost of public education will throw many Nigerian youths out of school.

Addressing journalists at a press conference in Osogbo on Wednesday, the president of NAUS, Comrade Popoola Olayinka, the Secretary, Comrade Akinleye Okiji and other executives, argued that education is a right of every citizens and never a privilege.

According to the union, “A serious government must prioritise education and make it affordable for citizenry”.

Speaking at the conference, Olayinka who disclosed that the association in conjunction with OAU student union has given the management of the institution a 5-day ultimatum to reverse the fees increment, hinted that failure to yield to their demands will lead to mass action.

He said the association and OAU student union have called for the closure of student payment portal and total suspension of any payment into the accounts of the university until all demands are met.

Condemning the aborted communal clash between Ilobu and Ifon, and the recent killings in Ilesa, NAUS urged security agencies to rise up to ensure maximum security in every part of the state, adding that those behind the ugly incidents should be brought to justice.

On palliative, the association urged federal and state governments to further roll out measure to cushion the effect of subsidy removal, saying as many Nigerians are facing serious challenges especially on food and transportation.