JUST IN: Protest Hits UNICAL Over 100% School Fees Hike

JUST IN: Protest Hits UNICAL Over 100% School Fees Hike

  • Several University of Calabar students, on Monday, December 4 protested against school fee increment by the management
  • The 100% school fee increment sparked anger among students of the institution, prompting them to take to the campus with placards
  • Legit.ng reports that the University of Calabar had said the increment was necessary because of the current economic realities in Nigeria

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 6-year-experience covering basic and tertiary education in Nigeria and worldwide

Calabar, Cross River state - Several students of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) on Monday, December 4, staged a protest over the increment of tuition fees by the institution's management.

According to Daily Trust, the increased fees for newcomers, returning students, and final-year students in non-science programmes are N111,000, N91,500, and N114,000.

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Meanwhile, fees for science courses were raised to N155,000, N125,000, and N148,000, with additional third-party dues of N38,500, N21,500, and N21,500 for each category.

UNICAL/UNICAL school fees
Protest at the University of Calabar's main gate on Monday, December 4, 2023, as a result of the hike in school fees by the school's management. Photo credit:Nsikak Ibatt
Source: Facebook

UNICAL increases tuition fees by 100%

Some of the placards by the students had various inscriptions such as: “Florence Obia, UNICAL is not a private university, which one is ‘slight increment’, say no to billing”, “UNICAL VC, stop forcing girls into prostitution”, “this is a federal university, not a business center,” among others.

It was gathered that before the increment, tuition fees for an average student, depending on the department, were N64,050 for freshers, N52,050 for final-year students, and N49,500 for returning students.

The Nation newspaper also noted the increment.

The protest by the students made the school a trending topic on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, December 4.

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Why we increased school fees - UNICAL

According to the management of the Nigerian university, the increment was necessitated by the current economic realities and the need to maintain the academic standard which the university was known for.

Legit.ng reports that UNICAL is reportedly one of the foremost Nigerian universities to automate students' registration processes through the college portal.

See some photos and video from the protest below:

Plumber graduates with first class

In a related article, Legit.ng spotlighted Gabriel Eze, a 2023 first-class honours graduate of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), Owerri, Imo state.

Ebonyi-born Eze defied many odds to achieve this excellent feat, according to his story shared recently on X (formerly Twitter) by Dr Laz Ude Eze, a public health physician.

Sani backs UNILAG students over fee hike

Legit.ng also reported that the former senator of Kaduna Central district, Shehu Sani expressed solidarity with students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) who were displeased with the fee increment.

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Some UNILAG students earlier hit the streets to express their dissatisfaction with the increased tuition fees announced by the school management.

Reacting, Senator Sani said the students were right to protest.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Ridwan Adeola avatar

Ridwan Adeola (Current Affairs Editor) Ridwan Adeola Yusuf is a content creator with more than nine years of experience, He is also a Current Affairs Editor at Legit.ng. He holds a Higher National Diploma in Mass Communication from the Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo State (2014). Ridwan previously worked at Africa Check, contributing to fact-checking research works within the organisation. He is an active member of the Academic Excellence Initiative (AEI). In March 2024, Ridwan completed the full Google News Initiative Lab workshop and his effort was recognised with a Certificate of Completion. Email: ridwan.adeola@corp.legit.ng.