The management of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) has reduced the institution’s fees.
The university management made the announcement after a meeting with the leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in Lagos on Thursday evening.
The hike in obligatory fees by UNILAG had attracted uproar among students of the institution, leading to protests by some students who stormed the university environs chanting songs and displaying placards on several occasions in the past week.
The university had in a statement in August put mandatory charges for new undergraduate students at N126,325 for courses without laboratory/studio, for one academic session.
It also indicated N176,325 as mandatory charges for one academic session for courses with laboratory and studio.
A further breakdown of the approved mandatory charges for one academic year or session for returning students showed that they would pay N100,750 for courses without laboratory and studio.
The approved mandatory charges for courses with laboratory and studio, according to the statement, was N140,250.
The university put approved charges for all medical students of the institution at N190,250.
It noted that utility charges of N20,000 were to be paid by all undergraduate students, while N30,000 was to be paid by all final year students.
UNILAG management attributed the hike to the need for students to get the best learning experience.
Addressing newsmen immediately after the meeting on Thursday evening, the UNILAG Vice Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, said: “For returning students, we have agreed to take away N20,000 across board.”
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Giving a further breakdown of the outcome of the meeting, Ogunsola stated that rather than pay N100,000 as stipulated earlier, returning students would now pay N80,000 per annum.
She said those with laboratory would now pay N120,000, as against the N140,000.
The UNILAG VC noted that those in the medical field would be paying N170,000, as against the N190,000 initially announced.
She added: “We also took a little bit off the utilities. This will hurt us though, because bills are high. But we also recognise the prevailing circumstances and so this development is a concession to the prevailing circumstances because when we fixed these bills, it was before the subsidy removal.
“Since then, it became clear that things are not getting any better and so, we also took a little away from the utility bills, which is coming down from the initial N20,000 to now N15,000, and also took out N3,000 from the convocation bills.
“For the incoming students, we slashed N10,000 from their fees each because when we fixed these bills, it was based on data, it wasn’t just arbitrary and we already had moderations of these bills.
“Some of the incoming students are paying in installments and therefore, with the slash, it will reduce what they will pay the next round.”
She noted that for those who had paid fully, the institution would carry over the slash as credit, or look for means of giving them back but was yet to decide on it.
Ogunsola added that another thing that was discussed at the meeting was the issue of the N25,000 that the students had been paying per annum for the past 15 years, which amounted to 208 dollars.
“Now, the 100,000 we are asking for per annum is 107. So, in real terms, the buying power of N100,000 is about 59 per cent of what N25,000 was, 15 years ago. So, it is really because we had the fall of the naira, which made it seem like an increase to”, the UNILAG Vice-Chancellor stated.
On his part, the NANS President, Usman Barambu, said: “We have reached an agreement with the university management that they are going to return the SUG, which is a very big plus to us as students.
“If we had such on ground here, I would not have had need to come down here now, unless they finish all the negotiations.
“But because there is none, that is why we have to be here.
“Right now, we have also been able to ensure that the utility bills are brought down to N15,000, while the convocation fees have come down to N27,000.
“We also succeeded in bringing down the hostel fees to N43,000 as against the initial N90,000, the medical hostel at the College of Medicine Idi-araba to N65,000 from the initial N120,000
“The fees for the Sodeinde hostel here on campus too was also reduced from N250,000 to N135,000.”
He urged the Federal Government to also be responsive to the yearnings of the youths by ensuring that it paid attention to the health, education, and agricultural sectors.
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