Parents protest tuition fees’ hike at Lokoja varsity

Some angry parents of the students in the Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State, on Tuesday, staged a protest against the 300 per cent hike in the institution’s tuition fees.

The placard-bearing protesters marched round the university’s premises, chanting solidarity songs.

The parents of the students, who called for immediate removal of the university Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olayemi Akinwumi, over what they described as arbitrary hike in fees, threatened to sustain the protest until the management of the university reversed the hike.

The leader of the group, Moses Abraham, told newsmen that the hike was a plot to deny children of poor Nigerians the right to university education, adding that the increment was too high for parents to bear.

Abraham, however, called on the Federal Government, through the Minister of Education, to prevail on the university management to reverse the hike to avert a violent protest.

“The Vice-Chancellor is a civil servant and we expect that he should be aware of the current economic challenges Nigerians are passing through,” he said.

He stressed that the parents could afford the hike “when sources of income remain stagnant”.

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Another parent, Florence Anachebe, said: “When the Federal Government established the university few years ago, we were happy.

“Unfortunately, the current vice chancellor wants to deny us the opportunity to train our children in the university.

“Since he came, he has virtually increased all charges and now the school fees.”

Reacting, the university spokesperson, Daniel Iyke, said there has not been any official release of any increase in the university’s fees.

Iyke said the hike in tuition fees had become inevitable since the Federal Government could no longer fund education alone.

He, therefore, said it would not be out of place for the university to consider a review of its fees.

“However, it will be important for parents, students and the public to wait for official pronouncement by the authorities before complaining,” Iyke added.

The Star