Fees Hike: ASUU President Predicts Drop Out Of Varsity Students By 50% In Next 2Years

President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU),Professor Emmanuel Osodeke has predicted that between more than 40 to 50 percent of students in various public universities in Nigeria will likely drop out of the system because of the recent upward review of charges by the tertiary institutions across the country 

Osodeke who was speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics monitored by Edu-Biznews, expressed the union's worry 

over the recent hike in fees by varsities across the country, saying it may force many students out of school. 

According to him, many parents and guardians will find it difficult to pay the fees and various charges which he described as  arbitrary increase 

“Is that correct in an environment today where the minimum wage is N30,000 per month and where they have to pay rent and pay heavily for transportation? And you are enforcing this thing on the students?, Osodeke asked rhetorically 

“As a result of this – I can assure you that you can check if nothing is done about this heavy fee being introduced all over the country today – in the next two or three years, more than 40 to 50 per cent of these students who are in school would drop out," he predicted 

According to him, if such happens, these students would become willing tools in the hands of those who want to make the “country ungovernable”.

“That is what we are saying: create the environment we had in the ’60s and ’70s,” the ASUU chief recalled 

“When I was a student, the government was paying me for being a student. Let’s have an environment where the children of the poor can have access to education, not closing them. If you say school fees of N300,000, how can the children of somebody who earns N50,000 a month be able to pay such fee?”, he lamented 

Osodeke however asked the Federal Government to increase its educational budget “to at least 15 per cent from last year’s 3.8 per cent” to address the disturbing situation 

Many public universities have in recent months increased their tuition fees owing to what they described as the country’s economic realities.

The situation led to protest students spear-headed by the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) which forced most of them to review the fees and charges payable by students downward