A group, Sunshine Liberation Front (SLF), in Ondo state, has threatened showdown with the Ondo state government over the recent hike in fee of the Ondo state-owned University of Medical Science, (UNIMED) in Ondo town.
The threat which was contained in a press statement signed by the group’s Media and Publicity Officer, Olugbenga Ajogbonlo, calling on the present administration in the State to rescind its decision on the hike in the school tuition or face the wrath of the people of the State.
According to the group, the Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu led government penchant for “inflicting more pains and wreaking further havoc on the already destabilized psyche of the citizens of the sunshine state” since the All Progressives Congress (APC) government came on board in the state would be resisted.
The group noted that the students of the institution will now be paying between N350,000 and N530,000 as against the previous fee of between N182,000 and N375,000.
The group queried that “was it not months ago that the students of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, their parents and concerned citizens took to the streets of Akure, Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja and other parts of Nigeria to protest the over 400 percent increment in their tuition?
“A school reputed to be the best amongst the rest and whose students and graduates continue to break national and international academic records even as the least paying public institution in Nigeria.
“ Akeredolu and his cronies have come up with another means of extorting Ondo State students in particular and Nigerian students in general with this newest path to raking in more Internally Generated Revenue. A student paying a little above N200,000 may not return to school if he doesn’t have over N450,000,” Ajongbolo said.
The group accused Akeredolu of planting his men in the State institutions to compound the woes of the common man with anti-people policies to wreck education in the State, and thereafter reward them with elective positions in the APC.
The statement read “It’s no longer strange and new that the hatchet men for these heinous crimes against humanity and the right to education are being promised and rewarded with juicy political posts.”
Dr Tunji Abayomi, who championed the arbitrary increment of AAUA fees, which resulted into thousands of students dropping out of school, is gunning for a senate seat to represent the district where the majority of these ‘unfortunate’ students hail from.
“Dr Eyitayo Fawehinmi, who is currently vying for a seat at the National Assembly too, is the Chairman, Governing Council, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo. He is spearheading the outrageous tuition increment to satisfy his boss in exchange for a House of Representative ticket in the forthcoming 2019 general elections, at the detriment of the students and their struggling parents,” the statement further read.
The group however called on governor Akeredolu “to reverse this anti people policy or face mass action as we won’t hesitate to ground the state to a halt by peacefully protesting this wicked, evil and inhumane anti progressive plan to shut the doors of education to the underprivileged ones in the society.”
Speaking on the development, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Segun Ajiboye, who confirmed the increase in the tuition of the school said, the increase imperative became imperative in order not to compromise standard.
Ajiboye however, said the decision to increase the tuition of the school was primarily taken by the governing council of the school, saying the state government was not involve in the decision.
He said: ” though the decision to increase in the fee was taken by the governing council of the institution and not by the state government but it was done in good faith and this was borne out of the desire not to compromise standard.”
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