Medical students of the University of Ibadan have begged the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki to save them from what they describe as arbitrary fee increase.

Using #noto100, the students in a series of tweet at Saraki said the management of their university has increased their fees in the excess of over N100,000.

Some of the tweets read:
However, a medical student who spoke with pulse on he condition of anonymity said the university management is using lack of fund from government as an excuse for the fee hike.

He said, the management is claiming not to receive any form of financing from the federal government. So, that responsibility has been transferred to students.

Apart from the accommodation fee which was increased from N14,000 to N40,000, the student said the management also introduce N100,0000 as ‘Professional clinical Training levy’.

”Accommodation fees have also increased to N40,000 from the previous cost of N14,0000.
”Recently, the Alumni under the umbrella of ICOMAA sponsored some ‘renovations’ in Alexander Brown Hall. The provost supervised these projects. The project which superseded all other projects was that of water supply. More Pipes were made in different parts of the hall. Paradoxically, these ‘renovation’ has only worsened the state of water supply in ABH. On some days, the bore holes and pipes are like plastic deserts. Sometimes, People trek some kilometers just to have access to water. Put in mind that school starts 7 or 8am.They also had the intention of painting the hall, but painted only one block.

Looking at the figures I highlighted, a medical student in clinical school will have to pay close to N180,000 for tuition, accommodation and the new levy. This is approximately a 293% increase. I have friends that struggled to pay the old fee. We also know minimum wage is N18000”.

Reacting to the students allegations, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Idowu Olayinka in a telephone interview with Pulse, explained that only 30% percent of the students are affected by the accommodation fee hike.

Accommodation fee has increased, you know only 30 percent of the students can be accommodated, the remaining 70 percent who live off campus are not accommodated because they don’t have accommodation in the university. So it is either they are staying in their parents’ residences or they rent a room or a private apartment. It is only the 30 percent who live on campus that are affected by any increment in the accommodation fee.

Olayinka also explained that the N100,000 training fee Apart from this, the medical students have to do some professional courses and they also have to do fieldwork, and the university is finding it unbearable to support them. And if they don’t do these things, we will end up producing half-backed graduates. We won’t get accredited either by the NUC or by any relevant professional bodies like a Nigerian Medical and Dental Council, the Council of Engineers in Nigeria and many other professional bodies.

However, since the students have reported the fee hike to the senate president, the VC said that if the Federal Government instructs the management to reduce the accommodation and training fees, the management will have no choice than to comply.