By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
Students at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) have decided to temporarily suspend their protest against the university, which began on Wednesday, September 6th, 2023.
The decision to temporarily halt the protest was reached by the students, contingent upon the university management’s compliance with a 48-hour ultimatum to revert all fee hikes.
In addition to the latter, the students enjoined the university administration to adhere to the directives of the federal government regarding fee reversals.
The protest was instigated by the recent hike in school fees, which saw fees surge from the previous N19,000 to an exorbitant N190,000, resulting into the formation of the “Students Solidarity Group Against Fee Hike” which has continued to call for a reversion of the fees to what they were before the hike.
As the new UNILAG fee structure was disclosed in July, incoming non-science students are to pay over 120,000 while science students are required to pay up to 170,000.
Returning students, on the other hand, were met with fees of 100,750 for non-science courses while 140,250 for science disciplines, accompanied by an obligatory 20,000 utility fee and 30,000 convocation fee, specifically for final-year students.
During the protest, demonstrators branded their placards bearing various slogans, including “We Are Students, Not Customers,” “Madam VC, We Cannot Breathe,” and “N160,750 to Study Yoruba Language.”
In the midst of this protest, some students were exposed to tear gas deployed by the police, resulting in the arrest of a few protesters who were subsequently detained at the Panti Police Station.
As of the time of this report, all detained individuals have regained their freedom.
