Prior to assuming the highest office in the country, Bola Tinubu, the erstwhile presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), pledged to hit the ground running on his first day in office if elected. Staying true to his word, he did hit the ground running right from his day of inauguration, albeit raising concerns. His inauguration ceremony witnessed an unexpected announcement at Eagle Square—the abolition of fuel subsidy payment. This move was swiftly followed by a series of economic reforms and further subsidy cuts across pivotal sectors of our national landscape. One of the sectors that received the sledgehammer of these policies appears to be public tertiary education.
Since that momentous declaration, public universities are taking center stage in a frenzied race to increase tuition fees. This race, spanning from the south to the north, has only gained momentum. However, amid this tumultuous spectacle, Nigerian students find themselves trapped in the quagmire, silently bearing the brunt of these decisions.
Among other things, the country’s education system has been left behind in terms of funding, over the years. Even despite no plausible explanation from the universities for their recent actions, it is apparent that the institutions of learning are also striving hard to cope with running costs amidst economic realities.
At the national level, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) issued a condemnation on July 22, 2023, regarding the escalating tuition fees in some institutions and the contemplation of such increases in others.
They characterized this move as “insensitive” and “embarrassing”. In an unequivocal statement, NANS emphasized that the government possesses the means to finance education and render it accessible to the common man. They further warned of a comprehensive student mobilization for protests if the fee hikes were not promptly suspended or reversed.