Students in Ekiti State on Thursday trooped to the streets to protest against high school fees in state-owned institutions.
Acting
under the aegis of the Federation of Ekiti State Students Union and the
National Association of Nigeria Students, they said the policies
introduced by Governor Ayodele Fayose were anti-masses.
They carried
placards with various inscriptions including, ‘Ekiti Students Pass Vote
of No Confidence in Fayose’, ‘Primary/Secondary Education Must Be Free
in Ekiti’, ‘Ekiti Bursary, Nothing But A Scam’, ‘Blackout in Ekiti State
University’, ‘College of Education, Ikere Ekiti Fees Must Be Reduced’,
and ‘No To N50,000 Acceptance Fee at College of Health Technology,
Ijero’.
They said they chose to stage the protest on the 19th
anniversary of the creation of Ekiti State to send a message that all
was not well in the state and to kick against “bad government policies”
in education sector.
The protest caused a huge traffic snarl at
Ijigbo roundabout with some officers of the Department of State Services
on hand to prevent hoodlums from hijacking the protest.
FESSU
National President, Peter Obayemi, lamented that students no longer had
access to bursary from the state government, accusing officials of the
state scholarship board of underhand dealings.
Obayemi claimed that
he was detained on the orders of a top government official over his
agitation for the payment of bursary to Ekiti students at the State
Scholarship Board.
He said the student bodies would no longer
tolerate intimidation by any government official, no matter how highly
placed, saying the Fayose-led administration had already declared war on
students by its actions so far.
Obayemi said, “We should let the
whole world know that Ekiti State government has neglected students.
They organised Education Summit and they refused to invite students and
instead they invited artisans, okada riders and market women.
“We are
saying no to privatisation of public schools in Ekiti. We reject all
sorts of fees that have been reintroduced in public schools.
“Government
used to pay WAEC fees for students; this government says it will no
longer pay WAEC fees. We reject all these anti-student and
anti-education policies.
“Many students have lost the joy of being
admitted to the College of Health Science and Technology, Ijero Ekiti,
as they were unable to pay the N50,000 acceptance fee before the
deadline.
“The Ijero College of Health Science and Technology is the
only school in Nigeria paying such an outrageous acceptance fee of
N50,000 that is non-refundable and this does not guarantee their
admission.”
A NANS executive member, Oluwabunmi Aduloju, condemned
the detention of FESSU boss on the order of the state government for
agitating for the students’ bursary.
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