Tuition hike: OAU students pray on the highway

The praying OAU students

Students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State on Monday paralysed activities in the university over hike in their fees.

The students, who assembled around 9.30 am, also locked down major buildings in the university.

Among the locked places were the Senate building, computer building and the main entrance gate that leads to the university campus.

OAU recently increased the charges of its newly admitted students from N37,150 and N42,150 to N 82,400, N92,700 and N95,700 (acceptance fee inclusive), depending on faculties.

The charges of old students of the institution were also increased from N5,300, N7,800, N10, 300 and N12,800 per session to N19,700, N30,700 and N33,700 for different faculties respectively.

“We have locked everywhere including the senate building; computer building and we are presently blocking the school gate. We are ready for the school management; we don’t care whatever happens to them there. The VC too is around, we want them to also feel what we are going through,” one of the protesters, identified as Sola, said.

“Attempts by security officers to stop us (students) from locking down the Senate and computer buildings failed. We almost fought them too,” another protester, who declined mentioning his name told our correspondent.

Our correspondent also gathered that Muslims among the students also turned the main road to a praying ground.

“We have instructed the Muslims among us not to go for prayer. They prayed on the main road here. We already supplied them with water for their ablution,” one of the protesters, Akin, added.

Attempts to reach the Public Relations Officer of the school failed, but the VC of OAU, Prof. Bamitale Omole, had in a press conference, blamed inflation and sustenance of the institutions standard for the increment.

He also explained that the university had not got the ASUU/FG funds, which the students said should be used to provide relief.

He also stated that a Special Relief Committee had been set up to attend to indigent, but brilliant students, adding that the increment was “inevitable.”