By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The Workers' and Youths' Solidarity Network, has condemned the recent fees hike by authorities of University of Abuja for new and returning students of the institution.

The new fees structure requires Health Sciences students to pay between N205,000 - N225,000 in school fees, with theinclusion of acceptance fee of N30,000 as well as other dues and levies.

While expressing shock at what it referred to as outrageous, the Network noted that this was the third time, in five years, the school fees have been increased.

The group called for an immediate reversal of the fees hike and urged students of the institutionand workers to be ready to fight for the reversal.

In a statement by the WYSN Secretary, Damilola Owot, and made available to News Express last Wednesday, the group called on the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) to set a day aside for a nationwide lecture boycott and mass protest.

The statement partly reads: “The Vice-Chancellor, Rasheed Na'Allah (PhD), claims that the primary objective behind the increment is to make the institution's students the best so their dreams can become a reality. However, we see this development as anti-poor and highly insensitive to the economic crisis facing Nigerians. The school management should turn to the government for funding and not increase the burden on students.

“Therefore, we totally condemn this increment and call for its immediate reversal. We urge students and workers to commence a comprehensive struggle for the reversal of the hiked fee. We also call on NANS to immediately name a day for a nationwide lecture boycott and mass protest, to demand the reversal of all hiked fees and also an end to education commercialization and improve funding of public education.

"In January 2018, UNIABUJA implemented its first school fees increment, and two years later, the fees were increased again by 100%, with a two-week deadline for payment. Students took to social media to express their outrage over the insensitivity and recklessness of the University Management and the Students’ Union leadership which have constantly been tools of the management. After the Covid-19 break, the management locked the portal for fee payment. In February 2021, students used the hashtag #EndUniabujaOppression to lead a protest and occupied the streets of Giri, Abuja, to demand a reversal of the 100% increase and the re-opening of the portal.

"However, according to Sahara Reporters, the Vice Chancellor of the University refused to reverse the fee, claiming that some students had already paid. This led hundreds of students to drop out of school as they could not afford the new fee.

"In 2022, the University Management, still under the same Vice-Chancellor, increased the school fees by over 50%, citing the inability of the university to depend on the government for funds. According to The Punch Newspaper report, the University spokesperson, Habib Yakoob (PhD), said that “the increment is not that significant.”

WYSN called on the school management to turn to the government for funding instead of increasing the burden on the students.

"We strongly condemn these increments and call for their immediate reversal. Students and workers must be prepared to struggle for a total reversal of the hiked fees, and we urge the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) to name a day for a nationwide lecture boycott and mass protest to demand an end to education commercialization and improve funding of public education.

"Instead of pushing for adequate funding from the government, the University Chancellor has chosen to increase the burden on the working people who survive on a meagre N30,000 minimum wage. We firmly believe that Vice-Chancellor Na'Allah is unfit to hold the position at the University of Abuja, as he has failed in his primary duty of ensuring the safety and welfare of students.

"Furthermore, we reject the N30,000 acceptance fee payment demanded from new students by the University's management. The National House of Representatives, as reported by ThisDayLive Newspaper, directed all federal institutions to stop collecting acceptance fees from new students and refund the ones already paid in 2020. Institutions like Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, refunded this fee to their students in the same year. We are puzzled as to how this fee has found its way back into the UniAbuja system, and we call for its immediate removal.

"We cannot overlook the precarious state of the university's hostel and housing system. The current hostel facilities on campus can only accommodate less than 30% of the total student population, leaving others to face exorbitant off-campus rents, security threats, and high transportation costs. We believe that these issues require urgent attention from the University. Instead, the management has chosen to dry-milk the parents of students in an attempt to cover up for the inefficiencies of the Buhari/APC-led federal government.

"We also demand that all students who have paid this new fee should be refunded accordingly. Similarly, we urge the students and staff unions of the university to launch a struggle, starting with an immediate reversal of the humongous fees and thorough auditing of the university's account.

"We call on the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students to name a day for a total nationwide lecture boycott and mass protests to demand a reversal of all hiked fees, an end to the commercialization of education, and improved funding of the education sector. This kind of struggle must involve the mobilization of students, parents, workers, and community members," the network stated.

According to the group, raising fees has a direct negative impact on the working people, even as it noted that it also sends more young people onto the streets, thereby contributing to an increase in criminal activities.

It lamented that the Nigerian government, with the cooperation of university management, continues to deny Nigerian youth their right to quality education through policies such as fee increases, neglect of academic staff unions, and reduced education funding, among other things.

The group recalled that members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) are still owed over six months' salaries simply because they demanded better and more transparent payment system and funding structures.

WYSN further stressed that only a united struggle by workers and youth could ensure that it would gain concessions from the current and incoming government and urge it to open the way for a better education.