The acting Vice Chancellor of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Prof. Sonnie Adagbonyin has denied reports of increase in fees payable at the Edo state-owned tertiary institution.
Prof Adagbonyi said while briefing the press Tuesday at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, Benin, accused erstwhile students’ union leaders of leading recent protests against alleged hike in school fees of being double-faced as they were part of the team that negotiated the ”add-on” fees they are now protesting against.
He said management of the institution would not shy away from applying the rules against the erring students whose unruly behaviours had disrupted academic activities on campus.
Explaining the action of the institution’s management which has been misconstrued, the acting Vice Chancellor said: “For the avoidance of doubt, these add-ons amounted to N50,200 only for all the programmes in the Faculties of Arts, Law, Management Sciences, Social Sciences and Environmental Studies; and for all the programmes in the Faculties of Agriculture, Education, Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences and Physical Sciences.
“Others include the Departments of Anatomy and Physiology and, finally, the Department of Nursing and the Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences. The over N120,000 being bandied by the students is totally false. The payment of N20,000 for the Learning Management System (LMS) is a “one-off.’”
Brandishing a paper which tabulated the current chargeable school fees as paid by both fresh and returning students, Prof. Adagbonyin recalled that when the then leadership threatened to shut the university’s gate over some perceived issues, that of school fees was not even high up on the list, adding that the only aspect of their agitation that was related to fees was the inclusion of returning (old) students in the Edo Health Insurance Scheme (EDOHIS).
On claim by the leadership of the Students’ Union that they had reached an agreement with EDOHIS to exclude all returning students from 300 level and above from the scheme, he said that the unionists were informed that the agreement they spoke about would only be implemented if it was true and officially communicated to the authorities, lamenting that it was yet to reach the school’s management.
He was unequivocal: “Upon my honour as the Acting Vice Chancellor and on behalf of the Management and the Senate of the university that there is no increment in the tuition fees of returning students. This is contrary to the news making the rounds that AAU has increased tuition fees for returning students to about 100%. Some reports even say 200% or 300%.
Flanked by the Acting Vice Chancellor, administration, Prof. Theo Agweda, the registrar, Mr. Ambrose Odiase and top officials of the school, the Vice Chancellor added that protests in the tertiary institution had taken political dimension as there is a growing tendency for people to go to the university gate and lock it on every impulse.
He fumed: “Non-state actors stir trouble from without. Internal issues in the university are externalized beyond the university community and selfish individuals seek to profit from it. We have this advice for all: give peace a chance.”
Prof Adagbonyin used the occasion to clear the air over alleged withdrawal of the accreditation of the department of mechanical engineering and its electrical/electronic counterpart in the institution by the conference of registered engineer of Nigeria (COREN).
He explained that contrary to claims in some quarters that degrees awarded to graduates from the aforementioned departments were fake, the degrees awarded from the two departments were valid.
He said that the accreditation for them only expired and that the process of re-accreditation had commenced with the university meeting all financial obligations to COREN with regard to the re-acreditation of the two engineering departments.
*Courtesy, excluding headline, Observer
