Students mobilse against proposed N80,000 electricity fees in universities

BY ADA DIKE

Undergraduates at Nigerian universities may be asked to pay the sum of N80,000 or more as electricity fee.

This was revealed by the Secretary -General of the Committee of the Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, recently.

He said it was imperative for students to pay the fee so that the universities can offset the humongous cost of power the schools incur, adding that institutions cannot pay more than N200 million electricity costs in the schools.

Ochefu maintained that electricity bill tripled or quadrupled since the introduction of the electricity tariff in Nigerian universities.

In 2023, the Vice chancellor of the university of Lagos said the school spends N1.7 billion annually on electricity.

Reacting to the recent development, many parents and students condemned the proposal, saying universities authorities are not aware how parents are struggling to train their children and wards in schools.

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A student of Lagos State University of Technology, Miss Affigbo Esther, who almost shedded tears appealed to schools authorities to shelve the plan because it has not been easy for her to cope financially in school as she is the one sponsoring her education from her job as an athlete.

“N80,000.00 is too much, in fact, there should please, scrap the idea as it has not been easy for me to meet my financial needs in school, not to talk of adding another burden to me and other students,” Affigbo said.

Similarly, a man whose son is in a federal university, Mr. Dele Folarin, asked: “How did we get here? This is very ludicrous, paying for electricity. Where is this country going like this? This is worst administration I have ever seen in my life,” he lamented.

He spoke further that: “We have engineering professors in universities, can’t they come up with ideas of generating electricity by now? He queried.

“It is a shame that none of these universities could provide alternative source of energy. Where will we get such amount from? Most of us are struggling to pay our children’s fees, and now this. When will this country get better? Are the universities no more a federal and state institutions? The Private Universities can think this way, not government universities. Will the students use the loan obtained to pay University electricity bill? He asked further.

Another parent, Kabiru Danladi said he wanted to say his opinion on this, but changed his mind. “Parents should just look for a way of paying. Those who cannot pay should go and learn skills (no pun intended),” Danladi advised.

Sunday Times contacted the President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Mr. Pedro Chibuzo Obi, to comment on the new development but, he’s yet to respond to the question as at the time of going to press.