President Bola Tinubu, has ordered federal universities to stop their “arbitrary increase in sundry fees payable” amid the hardship experienced by Nigerians due to fuel subsidy removal.
Dele Alake, special adviser to the president on communication and strategy made this known in a statement on Monday.
The president also remove all restrictions imposed on students loan scheme.
The directive is coming after University Of Jos(UNIJOS) and University of Lagos (UNILAG) had announced increment in tuition fees of students.
Alake said the development was in furtherance of the President’s desire to ease the burden of the fuel subsidy removal on students of higher institutions of learning and facilitate their transportation needs.
The statement indicated that the President’s goal is to ensure that students can conveniently access their campuses despite increased transportation costs.
Tinubu assure Nigerians that the government is actively working to ensure that vulnerable students also benefit from conditional cash transfers and food distribution initiatives.
The statement reads: “The desire of the President is to see that students can access their campuses without much difficulty as a result of higher transportation costs.
“The provision of the buses will also remove the burden of additional cost of daily commuting on parents and guardians.”
“In line with his promise to ensure no Nigerian student abandons his or her educational pursuits as a result of lack of money and economic circumstances of their parents, President Tinubu has also approved the removal of all restrictions on the students’ loan to make it available to any student or household that may desire it,”
Alake added that the president also warned authorities of all federal institutions against “arbitrary” increase of fees.
“Similarly, President Tinubu has directed the authorities in all Federal Institutions of higher learning to avoid arbitrary increase in sundry fees payable and where possible defer further increase so that parents and students don’t face too many difficulties.”
“While it is important to reiterate that President Tinubu has directed release of over 200,000 Metric Tonnes of grains to families in 36 states and Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, the government is working to ensure that vulnerable students can also benefit from conditional cash transfers and food distribution.
“The Federal Government salutes the courage, wisdom and partnership of Nigerian Students as our country navigates this challenging time.
“President Tinubu will continue to prioritise education and the needs of the students, improve welfare of teaching and non-academic staff and invest in infrastructure to make our institutions of higher learning become more globally competitive.”
