Data Price Hike: Students Cry Out as Nigerian University Switches to Online Lectures

• Students of Ahman Pategi University in Kwara state have protested against the sudden shift to virtual lectures
• They also raised concerns about the lack of accreditation for their academic programmes, accusing the school management of neglecting repeated NUC invitations
• The students believe the university’s challenges have worsened since the death of its founder, Ahman Patigi, in October 2024, leaving a leadership vacuum

Patigi, Kwara state - Students of Ahman Pategi University in Patigi, Kwara state, have kicked against the institution’s decision to adopt virtual lectures, citing rising data costs and poor internet connectivity as significant challenges.

Legit.ng learned that the students staged a protest on Monday to voice their grievances, accusing the university management of transforming the school into a virtual institution without proper consultation or adequate infrastructure to support online learning.

This is not what we're promised, student speaks

“We carried out the protests to express our grievances over the management of Ahman Pategi University this week, ” Usman, a 300-level student of the university, told Legit.ng.

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Usman added:

“We are rejecting virtual lectures. We are practically not having physical classes now. The management is indirectly turning the school into a virtual school. This is not a NOUN university. This is not what we were promised when we were offered admission. We started with physical classes.”

He noted that many students can no longer afford the high cost of data following the recent price hikes by telecom companies.

“Everyone knows how expensive data is now in Nigeria due to the recent hike. It is not what we can sustain again. A lot of us are complaining. We don’t want virtual classes again,” he said.

“Not only data, the network issues too. The network is not reliable. There are times a bad network will even make the classes frustrating. The lecturers will be talking, and you will barely hear and understand anything. And the university was not approved as an e-learning centre. It was approved as a regular school like others. The management is just overburdening us with the introduction of these virtual classes,” he added.

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NCC recently approved tariff hike

The students’ complaints come at a time when Nigerian telecom users are grappling with increased data tariffs following a regulatory green light from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The NCC had earlier approved a 50% increase in tariffs, prompting telecom giants like MTN Nigeria to hike prices by up to 200% in some cases. Although MTN later reversed the increase after a public outcry, many networks still maintain significantly higher rates, with large data plans costing up to N70,000.

Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), had said during a February forum with telco executives that the price hike was necessary due to the high operational costs faced by telecom companies.

Despite the justification from telcos, the new tariff regime has sparked intense debate across the country, with many Nigerians complaining about the burden it places on households already struggling with inflation and economic hardship.

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Ahman Pategi University battles accreditation issues

President of the Students Representative Council in the school, Aliyu Dangbana, a final-year student, also raised concerns over the lack of accreditation of the institution’s academic programmes.

“Nigerian University Commission offered our school 14 courses. This made us have two faculties. None of these courses has been accredited. The NUC even invited our management to come and do the accreditation, but they refused,” Aliyu said.

He explained that the school management was invited for the accreditation process multiple times but failed to honour the invitations.

“Presently, we (the 400-level students), our lives are uncertain because the school appears not to be ready to carry proper accreditation of our courses as suggested by NUC. Fourteen courses were affected,” he lamented.

“Even last October, the students went to the management about this issue, when we heard that they turned down the NUC offer to begin accreditation visitation in our school. The management appealed to us that the school was currently not ready because of finances. And they told us that they will write a postponement to NUC and schedule another date, January 19, 2025, for the accreditation visitation. But nothing was done again."

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Aliyu added that the students had earlier staged a protest in January 2025 to press home their demands.

“They resolved it and begged the students that the accreditation had been fixed first week of March 2025. During this time, we expected that accreditation would take place. And the time came, no signs of accreditation. It was at this time that the VC confessed to the students that his hands were tied on the accreditation," he said.

Death of university founder contributes to challenges

Amid the turmoil, students at Ahman Pategi University say the late founder’s death may have contributed to the current challenges facing the school.

The founder, Ahman Patigi, a former lawmaker who represented Edu/Moro/Patigi Federal Constituency of Kwara State in the 6th, 7th, and 8th Assemblies, passed away in October 2024 at the age of 59 after a brief illness.

During his time in the House of Representatives, Patigi served as the Chairman of the House Committee on Water Resources. Students of the university believe his demise has left a leadership vacuum that is now affecting the school’s progress.

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Ahman Pategi University is one of the twenty private institutions approved for establishment by the Federal Executive Council in February 2021.

JAMB uncovers Kano varsity applicants with fake results

In another report, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) said out of 148 A-level results presented to Bayero University Kano for Direct Entry admission, only six were valid, leaving 142 results deemed fraudulent.

In its weekly bulletin, JAMB revealed that one of the primary objectives of its screening process is to ensure that only legitimate documents are used for admission.

The board further emphasised the responsibility of educational institutions to verify these documents thoroughly.

Source: Legit.ng