JUST IN: Tinubu promises to intervene in school fees hike – NANS President: President Bola Tinubu pledged on Wednesday to step in and end the controversial fee hike as tensions over the recent increase in school fees start to rise in the nation’s post-secondary institutions.
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Additionally, the President has ordered that vocational training institution students be taken into account while evaluating the student loan, which is scheduled to start in a few weeks.
Following the delegation of students to meet the President at the State House in Abuja, these were revealed by Lucky Emonefe, President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, or NANS, in a press conference.
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According to Emonefe, the delegation brought up a number of demands when they met with President Tinubu, including the postponement of the student loan program, which was originally set to begin in January 2024, the difficulties Nigerian students are facing as a result of the country’s economic collapse, and the increase in tuition fees by the nation’s educational institutions’ management.
According to the President of NANS, the President promised to investigate the fee increase in order to make sure that the arbitrary rise was discontinued.
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“The leadership of NANS, led by my humble self, came to pay a visit to Mr. President, to see him, as the father of this country. So I led the delegation to visit him. We came, first, to thank him for the various educational policies that he has introduced; first is the students loan, he’s a lover of education and education is the bedrock.
“He equally released funds for intervention; UBEC and TETFund, given to students, because that is development of infrastructure. So we came in to thank Mr. President.
“It does not end there, the yearnings and the aspirations of Nigerian students, I came in to table them before Mr. President, including issues of hike in school fees and various other challenges; high cost of living for Nigerian students, what they are passing through, as a father who listens.
“I came to relate these things to Mr. President and Mr. President is accessible, he listened to us and he promised us he’s going to look into that, that he’s going to include more youths in his government, that we are the future leaders.
He specifically said that he wants the student loan to work so that those who don’t have access to education…, that education is a right. So that is our reason of visiting. Mr. President and we know things will turn around for the better, soonest.
“So we’re conveying the message back to our students, that Mr. President will look into the challenges they are facing in various higher institutions and those higher institutions that are increasing school fees will put an end to it. So it is the challenge that Nigerian students are facing, we believe that the school fees hike will be a thing of the past.”
When asked if he had received any assurances from the President regarding the ultimatum that the students body had given the government regarding the high cost of living and the complaint that the students loan had not started in January as scheduled, he replied that Tinubu had given an explanation for the loan’s delay.
He said, “On the issue of the student loan, the little delay was the expansion. Mr. President expanded it for inclusion of some vocational training, which is highly commendable.
“In one or two weeks from now, the launching of the student loan will begin, that is as for the student loan, all steps have been put in place to commence it immediately and Mr. President will launch that. He has equally promised to include students in the process.
“On the issue of the hardship that we’re facing, Mr President didn’t give a specific time, but he said things will turn around soon and students will start feeling it. I think that was the response.”
