Education Rights Campaign (ERC) has kicked against increment of accommodation fee at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan in Oyo State.
The group called for reversal of the fee.
According to the circular, new students of University of Ibadan are to pay a sum of N60,000 while returning students are to pay a sum of N45,000.
New students and occupants of ABH in UCH are directed to pay N60,000 as the new fee for the accommodation according to the circular. This is against the N30,000 paid in the previous academic session.
Education Rights Campaign (ERC), University of Ibadan branch while reacting, condemned the decision of the university’s management over the increment.
ERC Coordinator, University of Ibadan chapter, Ben Taffee, in a statement made available to journalists, urged both fresh and returning students to reject any form of fee hike in the institution.
ERC, while welcoming both the new and returning students, insisted that there is no basis for a hike in the accommodation fee.
The group, while speaking further said that all halls of residence remain in the same dilapidated condition as they were before students were asked to proceed on the end of the session break a few weeks ago.
“At the same, we urge both the fresh and returning students to reject any form of fee hike and disregard the directive for the immediate payment of the hiked accommodation fees as published in a document titled “the procedure for the payment of the undergraduate accommodation fee for 2022/2023 academic session” which has been in circulation for a few days now
“As far as we are concerned in the ERC, there is no basis for hike in the accommodation fee. All halls of residence remain in the same despicable condition as they were before students were asked to proceed at the end of the session break a few weeks ago. There is neither improvement in the internal facilities nor facial renovation.
“Again, the fact that the previous hike in accommodation fee failed woefully to translate into any meaningful improvement in the living condition within the halls of residence is a clear indication that the current hike is not also going to guarantee any concrete improvement in the facilities and living condition of students within the halls of residence.
“It is in the light of this background, we consider the present hike in the accommodation fee by the Prof Adebowale-led university administration as one of the means to transfer onto students and their parents the burden of generating revenue for the running of the university, including the maintenance of the opulent lifestyle of the university administrators.
“The discriminating character of the hiked accommodation fee, where some students are asked to pay #60,000 and others to pay #45,000 for the same accommodation of similar deplorable facilities, is a ploy to ensure that students are not united against the hiked accommodation fee and other impending anti-students policies like school fee hikes.
“We believe the present hike in the accommodation fee is being used to test water by the university administration. Therefore, if this is not defeated it will encourage the implementation of other planned anti-student policies like the proposed school fee hike.
“We of the ERC equally observed that the document where the hiked accommodation fee was published was never signed by any of the designated officers of the university administration. This is the same way the earlier document tagged “proposed school fees” published a few days ago, was never signed by any officer of the university administration who later came out to deny any knowledge of it.
“This is also one of the reasons we call on students to disregard the document and suspend the payment of the hiked accommodation fee stipulated in the unsigned document.
“Finally, ERC calls on Tobiloba-led Students Union to stop shying away from its responsibility and commence the process of mobilising the mass of students on campus towards building a resistance against any form of attack on both their living and learning condition in the university. This must also include an appeal to all the workers unions on campus such as ASUU, NASU, SSANU, and NAAT for a support and solidarity”.
