By Leshi Adebayo
Students of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), on Tuesday, shut down academic activities on campus to protest the hike in their tuition fees.
According to SaharaReporters, the students gathered at the school’s main gate, carrying placards bearing inscriptions, such as ‘Madam VC wants to milk us dry’, ‘Salami wants us to do cash out’, ‘UNIBEN VC Salami is after my sanity as a student’, etc.
UNIBEN had earlier announced that students who failed to pay tuition fees within the allotted time would have to pay extra charges and might have their studentship withdrawn.
A statement signed by the university’s Public Relations Officer, Dr. Benedicta Ehanire, had noted that “registration by all students closes on 3rd September, 2021 and after such date, students will no longer have access to the school portal.”
In a video obtained by SaharaReporters, students were seen in large numbers chanting, “Uniben students we are under pressure, Aunty Lilian please pity us.”
The protesting students blocked the ever-busy Benin-Lagos Expressway and the Ekheuan Road.
An anonymous source cited by SaharaReporters disclosed that students previously paid N14,000 as tuition. Later, it was increased by the authorities in the 2017/2018 academic session to N41,400.
Under Vice Chancellor Lilian Salami’s administration, the tuition fees were increased again, on the resumption of the current academic session from N41,400 to N45,000.
In a similar pattern, less than a month later, the fees saw an increment of N20,000 totalling the whole tuition fees to N65,000, for both Art and Sciences students. The newly admitted students were asked to pay N90,000, which students considered to be outrageous.
The source was quoted as saying, “These insensitive hikes are consistent despite the fact that students have several other fees the institution imposes on them. Some of these compulsory fees include: Faculty dues, Department dues, Course registration and many more.
“The management of the institution claims it does not officially sell handouts, its lecturers coerce students to pay for same.”
Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Lilian Salami, has announced the immediate closure of the University, ordering all all students to vacate their hostels and the University premises no later than noon on Wednesday.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Registrar of the institution, Mr Ademola Bobola.
“The Vice-Chancellor has reviewed the agitation by a section of the students’ body on Tuesday. After due consultation and in the overall interest of the general students’ body, the Vice-Chancellor has, on behalf of the Senate, approved the closure of the University with immediate effect.
“This is based on security reports to avoid the students’ action being hijacked by hoodlums, and thereby prevent any form of breakdown of law and order within and outside the campuses of the University,’’ the statement read.
