Fee increase: What exactly is Gov El-Rufai up to?

It was reported by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Kaduna State University (KASU) Chapter, that about 75 per cent of the university’s students may drop out of school due to the increase in tuition fees. The university had been directed by the state government to immediately increase the tuition fees by over 500 […]

It was reported by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Kaduna State University (KASU) Chapter, that about 75 per cent of the university’s students may drop out of school due to the increase in tuition fees.

The university had been directed by the state government to immediately increase the tuition fees by over 500 per cent; from N24,000 to the minimum of N 150,000 for each student.

• Onitsha Port yet to function, 7 months after commissioning
• How Nigerians lose millions to fraudulent real estate developers

This is very unfortunate considering the nation’s economy and the level of hardship ordinary people are experiencing. In fact, could you imagine that somebody who campaigned to offer free education is taking such a decision?

Not just that, don’t you (El-Rufa’i) know that education is a right and not a privilege; funding of education as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution is the sole responsibility of government, not parents?

On the above basis, El-rufa’i is up to something, because it is his responsibility to provide Kaduna State populace with good education without them paying a single kobo and not to jeopardize their life by paying huge amount of money to finance education of their wards.

Really, the approach is to increase in their plight because 99 percent of these students are from the less privileged background; majority of them are sons and daughters of peasant farmers, petty traders, vendors, and few are civil servants, that are living from hand to mouth. How will you expect them to pay such amount where do they find it?

El-Rufa’i has sacked most of their parents and guardians and now want to throw their wards out of school forgetting their everyday struggle against the current economic downturn to pay the fees of their children.

Again, this may have a great impact on the government’s quest to develop viable human capital in the nation. It can also contribute to the unrest situation of the nation in term of Boko Haram insurgents, thuggery, banditry and kidnappings, cybersecurity and lot more.

On this note, I am calling on the state leaders, civil societies, traditional rulers and every stakeholder to immediately intervene in the matter with a view to averting the impending doom that may arise from the situation.

 

Janet Francis Upuh,

Department of Mass Communication,

University of Maiduguri