Report by Adetula David (OAU Dockett
Ambassador)
If there is something the entirety of
Great Ife students are popularly and
powerfully known for, it is nothing but
total opposition, rejection and aluta
against all forms of oppression, anti-
mass policies and unreasonable
reasonings.
It is no longer rumour but a verified
fact that the Obafemi Awolowo
University school management has
concluded plans to increase the school
fees of incoming students i.e the
freshmen and the returning students
for the 2013/2014 Academic Session.
This was made conspicuous in the first
stakeholders meeting held today at the
level of the Ken Saro Wiwa Student
Union Building. The stakeholders
meeting had in attendance the Central
Executive Council, Students
Representative Council, Hall Executive
Council, Presidents of Faculties,
Departments and Associations, Media
Groups and some prominent and
concerned Great Ife students.
The sole agendum of the meeting was
to fashion out workable ways to reject
the proposed action of the school
management on fees. It was reached
that the proposed school fees scheme
is not only unjustifiable but also not
warranted. It is just a deliberate aim at
grieving the students and their
sponsors at a delicate time like this,
the stakeholders opined. In a
document presented by the President
of the Students' Union, Ibikunle Isaac
Motunrayo has the school Senate's
ratification and endorsement of the fee
increment scheme, it reflects that OAU
students will be paying as huge as
N72,000-N80,000 as against the
present fees which is as low as N7,000
in most faculties.
The Student leaders argued that the
students are not to be held
responsible for the irresponsibility of
the Government at this time as against
the reason of poor financing of the
institution by the Government given
by the school management.
Godspower, one of the Student
Representatives in his own submission
said 'the foundation of OAU was laid by
our forefathers for the poor, the
pepper sellers and the farmers' wards,
I don't have money and that is why I
am here. If I had money, I would have
gone to LASU or UNILAG where they
pay exorbitant fees'. The Students
leaders however advised the incoming
students to be patient and be careful
not to pay that unjustifiable fees. Any
fresher who pays that amount is doing
that at his/her own risk'.
Some stakeholders however call on all
tertiary institutions across the nation
to join this struggle because if this
policy is eventually implemented in a
school as sagacious as OAU, then other
Nigerian schools are not safe from it
and even expect a more dehumanizing
payment scheme in no time.
In lieu of this, the P.R.O of the
Students' Union, Bamidele Oludare
launched the media hashtag to be used
for the campaign to show the students
dissatisfaction. You can follow the
struggle on twitter and facebook using
the hashtag # OAUsaysNO
It will be recalled that OAU Students'
Union was proscribed in 2011 as a
result of students demostration against
the increment of the School's
Acceptance fee from N2,000 to
N20,000. The Union was later
reinstated after 3 years of proscription
about two months ago.
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