Students of Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ijagun, Ogun State, last Friday trooped out in their numbers to protest the newly-introduced medical fee of N2,000.
The students boycotted the second semester examination.
TASUED Students Union Government President Abdul-Azeez Soneye said the N2,000 medical fee was introduced on the students portal without prior notice.
Soneye insisted that the protest would continue if the management refused to cancel the new medical fee.
“This protest which resulted in the cancellation of GNS221 exam earlier scheduled for Friday was as a result of the N2,000 medical fee payment that was introduced on the students portal.
“The union members have since taken a stance that the fee should be cancelled,” he said.
He, however, noted that the university management had a meeting with students after the protest where an agreement was reached for further deliberation.
“The meeting ended with both the management and students union members agreeing to reconvene on Thursday,March 25, for further deliberation.
“We are hopeful that the university management would surely listen to the plight of the students and grant this demand,” he said.
On his part, the Ogun State Chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Damilola Simeon, blamed the Acting Vice Chancellor of TASUED, Prof. Wole Banjo, for the introduction of medical fee.
“If he refuses to reverse that fee as fast as possible, we are going to that school to shut it down. I will lead the teeming Nigerian students to the school and we are going to shut it down. They won’t be able to run their daily activities unless the needful is done,” he said.
The Acting VC said the new medical fee had the approval of the Federal Government as Tertiary Institution Social and Medical Insurance Scheme.
“All over the country, it is a rule by the Federal Government. We staff, we keyed into it, we are paying every month. All over the country, university students are paying and that N2,000 is the least of payments in all tertiary institutions in Nigeria. If not for the increase in prices of drugs, we would not have done that, because to take care of over 20,000 students is not easy. That is why we decided that they should start paying so that we can improve the health facilities on campus,” he said.
On the call to the university to reverse the medical fee or have the school shut down, he said: “We had a meeting and we asked the students to go around and see what obtains in some other universities. So when they come back, we will resolve the issue.
“Our students are law-abiding. They can’t do that. Even the protest they had was a peaceful one. They didn’t destroy any university property.”
