Students of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) in Abeokuta, Ogun state, have staged a peaceful demonstration against new fees allegedly introduced by the institution.
In the early hours of Monday, the students blocked the varsity’s entrance, preventing lecturers and other staff from gaining access to the vicinity.
In now-viral photos from the protest, the rankled students were seen carrying placards with various captions such as “We no be rich kids, na why we come MAPOLY, #Say no to unreasonable increment now!!!”, “Say no to extortion”, and “Say no to registration fees”.
The students also accused the institution of introducing “registration fees” while also planning to increase tuition.
What's happening to Nigerian Education fgs.
Mapoly students shot all entrances, protest over unnecessary fees. While federal student just planning of resuming after eight months stay at home ASUU strike.
Nawao 🤔 pic.twitter.com/ukVQcrsUNj— BIG RAY (@RayOfLag) October 17, 2022
It is understood that the protest disrupted the ongoing second-semester examination.
Reacting to the protest, Ajani Sodiq, the institution’s dean of student affairs, said the increment only affected the fresh students.
“Nobody has increased the tuition or any fee for the students. What is added is for potential students, that we don’t even know yet. But some people believe that because they have done their ND and they’re coming back for HND, they should hold the polytechnic down,” he told PUNCH.
“What was added was an N20,000 registration fee for fresh students which we’re yet to get.
“And because of agitations here and there, it has been slashed to N10,000 naira. Yesterday (Sunday), for more than five hours, we were having meeting. Our students (the Students’ Union Government) are not involved (in the protest), but some people under the guise of NANS believe they must truncate the examinations.
Below are photos from the protest:
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