UNAD students Stone Governor Over School Fees Hike

Students of the University of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, took advantage of Governor Segun Oni‘s visit to their campus last week Monday, to vent their anger on him for supporting the recent hike in tuition in UNAD. Reports revealed that 10 of the protesters are now being prosecuted in court.

When the Visitor to the University of Ado-Ekiti, Governor Segun Oni, visited the institution last week, he expected the community to give him a rousing welcome. But he was wrong. Instead of getting a warm welcome into the state-owned institution, the governor and his entourage were welcomed with stoning by aggrieved students. Oni had led the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Oluseyi Petinrin, who was invited to deliver the maiden distinguished lecture of the university to the campus. Oni, their main target, was ferried out of the campus by a combined team of his security operatives and that of the university.

The students waited for the governor to come out of the lecture. As soon as he did, hails of stone started to rain on him. The students said they were protesting “outrageous hike in tuition.” It took the spirited efforts of security operatives at the scene to stop the angry students from stoning the governor to death.

The COAS, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dipo Kolawole, and the governor, alongside members of the UNAD Governing Council, were filing out of the auditorium where the lecture was delivered, with the hope of being waved at by thousands of students who had besieged the venue. However, they got more than what they bargained for, as irate students who had, two hours earlier, declared the governor a persona non grata on the campus, hurled stones and other objects at the Visitor. Although Oni‘s security aides and policemen deployed to the school did a good job of shielding their principal, the ‘missiles’ launched at the fleeing governor did damage some vehicles parked nearby.

The maiden distinguished lecture of the UNAD, which was meant to project the image of the 25-year-old institution, was turned into a battle field as hundreds of irate students battled security agents deployed at the venue. While the security men only fired tear gas at the students, the latter replied with stones of various sizes and shapes.

The students had seized the opportunity provided by Oni‘s visit to the campus to register their anger at the hike in their tuition. It will be recalled that they had, about two months ago, staged a protest at the Governor‘s Office over what they described as outrageous fees being charged fresh students by the university authorities. The protesting students were unable to see the governor, however, as they were told that Oni was not around.

In its reaction, the university said that those who participated in the previous peaceful protest were not UNAD students. Indeed, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Wale Ojo-Lanre, described them as “students of Action Congress University.”

The university used to charge fees that were not considered too high for students from poor homes. Before the introduction of the new fees, most of the students, including those in their final year, paid N29,000 per session; while non-indigenes at the same level paid N39,000. But then, the new fees that are meant to be paid by 100 Level students alone range from N90,000 to N200,000. Students in the Faculty of Education are now charged N90,000 per session, while those in the Social Sciences pay N120,000; and medical students now pay N200,000. The fees do not cover accommodation.

Our correspondent gathered that though the majority of the new students have paid their tuition, some of them actually forfeited their admission because of their inability to pay. Even those who had paid expressed the fear that they might abandon their studies midway if their parents are unable to cope with the burden the new fees might place on them.

Security agencies who had envisaged that there could be a riot in UNAD, last week, had beefed up security in major streets of Ado-Ekiti, while there was heavy security presence at the university. About seven vans loaded with armed policemen were stationed at the university, while the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kakwe Katso, was personally present at the university to ensure that there was no breakdown of law and order. But in spite of the police presence, the students still protested.

The situation was not chaotic at first, as the President of the Student Union Government, Mr. Kehinde Okunuga, led hundreds of students in a peaceful protest from the main gate of the university on Iworoko Road. Although the students were orderly, they booed the governor as he was being driven into the school in a convoy.

Okunuga said, “The entire students of UNAD reject Mr. Segun Oni‘s coming to our campus. We reject his obnoxious policies. His policies on education are anti-students. But we appreciate the coming of the Chief of Air Staff. We are giving Segun Oni another opportunity to repent. We are giving him seven-day ultimatum to reverse the fees or he should be ready for our unstoppable protest.”

Not satisfied with that, the students followed the convoy into the campus and heckled at the governor throughout the duration of the lecture.

The vice-chancellor, who condemned the “embarrassment caused the governor,” said the masterminds of the protest would be punished. Kolawole, who described the protesters as miscreants, accused them of “seeking to disrupt the lecture meant to project the image of the university.” He said the university would not allow a “few miscreants among the students to tarnish its image.”

The governor also complained that “miscreants” had been ”sponsored” to embarrass him, assuring his listeners that he could not be embarrassed. He said that the hike in fees, which the students were protesting, would not be reversed because of the prevailing economic situation in the country.

Oni said, “Ours is a state where there is unbridled excessive politics, and that is why people will want to use every opportunity to embarrass the government. But we have never been embarrassed once. We can only be embarrassed if we have not provided water for our people; we can only be embarrassed if we have not improved our education sector; we can only be embarrassed if we have not improved our health care system. The children of those who engineered this protest are not schooling here (in the country). They don‘t protest fee increment in schools where their own children attend.”

While emphasising that the new fees would not be reversed, the governor commended the method of implementation which the UNAD Governing Council had adopted. According to him, it is the first time tuition increment will be introduced and old students were not affected. Oni further said, ”As the Visitor to the university, I give the governing council the approval to increase the fees as it deems fit. But it must not exceed 25 per cent increase in a session.”

At that point, students in the auditorium interrupted the governor‘s speech with the shout of ”No, no, no,” and stormed out of the hall. The security operatives had to forcefully close the doors to prevent the exodus. However, as the chief of air staff continued with his lecture, hundreds of students outside the auditorium sang anti-Oni songs, while also marching round the auditorium. The stoning started immediately the governor emerged from the auditorium. But he escaped unhurt.

Meanwhile, the Police have arrested 10 students, who were on Wednesday arraigned before a Magistrate Court on a five-count charge. The students were arraigned before Magistrate Adesoji Adegboye, for alleged breach of peace, unlawful tumultuous gathering, unlawful damage to property, causing injuries while rioting and assault on police officers through stoning. They were admitted to bail, while the case was adjourned till October 8.

Government had blamed the opposition for the attack on the governor, while former Governor Ayo Fayose was singled out as the sponsor of the attack. But Fayose, who condemned the attack, said he did not sponsor anybody to unleash terror on Oni. He, however, blamed Oni for the way he had so far handled the situation, noting that the students had been complaining about the increment for the past five months, but that the governor had remained adamant.

He advised the Oni government to address the cause of the protest first, saying taking the students to court would not offer a solution to the problem.