By Osaro Matthew

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to instruct the management of federal universities to discard their plans of increasing school fees being paid by students. The association warned that if the proliferation of school fees is not stopped immediately, students would embark on a nationwide protest and remain on the streets until their demand is met.

This call was made in a statement issued by the Public Relations Officer, Giwa Temitope, on Saturday, July 22, 2023. The association said, “To us, an increment in the school fees will complicate the poverty conditions of most parents and students and also increase the number of out-of-school children in the country. In fact, the student loan that was introduced by the federal government was nothing but a sham, coupled with the fact that the terms of the loan are ridiculous.”

The association further affirmed their belief in the federal government to fund education and making it accessible if there is a political will. The association added that grants and scholarships should be given to students instead, and plans to increase school fees by universities should be suspended to avoid a nationwide protest.

The call, which is coming as an adverse reaction to the increment of school fees in the University of Lagos and the planned increment by other federal universities, has not been responded to by the federal government at the time of issuing this report.

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