A gubernatorial aspirant under the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former Secretary to the Oyo State Government, Barrister Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli has criticized Governors Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo) and Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) for allowing the management of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso to increase school fees to N200,000 and N250,000 for indigenes and non-indigenes, respectively.
Alli while describing the increment as strange, called on traditional rulers, leaders of thought and other well meaning Nigerians to prevail on the duo, Ajimobi and Aregbesola to reverse the tuition.
The institution, DAILY POST gathered had through a memo addressed to students on Monday announced the new fees.
LAUTECH in the the memo, entitled “Notice to All Students on Payment of New Tuition Fees with Effect from 2018/2019 Academic Session” and signed by the registrar of the institution, Mr J. A. Agboola declared that students from the two owner states of Oyo and Osun were to pay N200,000 while non-indigenes will pay N250,000.
But, Alli in a statement issued on his behalf by Comrade Taiwo Ibrahim, his media Aide, Thursday morning in Ibadan, the state capital, described the new school fees as not only wicked but an attempt by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) “to keep more children out of school and pauperize the citizens”.
Alli said, “The All Progressives Congress (APC) led governments in Oyo and Osun states seem to be fully determined to keep more children out of school and pauperize the citizens the more judging from the recent astronomical increase in the tuition fees introduced by the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, Ogbomoso.
“I strongly condemn the insensitivity of the two owner governments to the pains and agonies the students and their parents had gone through in the last three years and yet decided to add more.
“Before the broohaha three years ago, the tuition fees was just about sixty thousand naira but after the long strike, the Abiola Ajimobi and Rauf Aregbesola led administrations increased the fees to one hundred and fifty thousand naira.
“Quite unprecedented in the history of our region, within one year, the tuition has risen to two hundred and fifty thousand naira.
“Of recent, Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU alerted Nigerians that the federal government of the same APC is planning to increase fees in the federal universities to three hundred and fifty thousand naira, this seems to be a preparatory to that assertion since they are boarding the same bus of ideology.
“Already, over thirteen million kids are not in school, if this trend should continue, the Nigerian society will continue to be worse off and rate of poverty will rise to an unimaginable level.”
Alli concluded by appealing “to well meaning individuals, traditional rulers and the academia to come to the rescue and prevail over the authorities to reverse the order in the corporate interest of the present and future generations of Yoruba land.”
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