Lawmaker Leads IBB University Students to Protest Fees Hike

By Laleye Dipo

The Minority Leader of the Niger State House of Assembly, Hon. Ahmed Bello Agwara, yesterday led students of the Niger State Government owned Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, to protest the hike in the tuition fees announced by the management of the institution before commencement of the new academic year.

Bello said he joined the protest because he is a post graduate student who is affected by the school fees increment and therefore “I am a comrade.”

The protest, which was the second within one month, saw the students marching to the state’s House of Assembly and using their union vehicles to block the main entrance to the complex thereby preventing in and outflow of vehicles belonging to the legislators, assembly staff and visitors.

The lawmaker presented their demand to the Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Jibrin Ndagi, who received the protesting students on behalf of the Speaker Abdullahi Bawa Wuse.

He urged the assembly to intervene in the matter by summoning the school management, the Student Union Government and the state government to a round table for an amicable resolution of the impasse arguing that as the representative of the people, the assembly is in a better position to take a decisive action on the lingering school fees hike crisis threatening the peaceful academic environment of the IBBU.

Also speaking, the Representatives of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Mr. Ishaq Madaki and Mr.Abdulsalam Abdulganiu, urged the assembly to prevail on the state government to order the university management to further reduce the fees if they could not return them back to the old rate.

The student union leaders also threatened to forcefully shut down the university within 24 hours if the institution management failed to shut down the university registration portal until all issues were resolved.

Addressing the student, the Deputy Speaker, Ndagi, assured the protesting students of the assembly’s resolve to look into their demands with a view to resolve them.

He urged them to conduct themselves peacefully and asked them to nominate representatives that would interface with the assembly in order to chart a way forward.

The Niger State Government had earlier waded into the impasse by announcing a reduction of the controversial fees for returning indigents students to N50,000 as against N67, 929, new students indigenes N95,675 as against the initial N129, 675 proposed by the university management.

Similarly, non indegines are now to pay N100,000 as against the N117, 325 earlier announced while, new non indegine students are to pay N170,000 as against the proposed N201,217 by the university management.

However, in a statement dated August 20, 2021, and signed by the Chief Press Secretary to IBBU Student Union Government President, Mr. Markus David Sonoma insisted on total and absolute reversal of the school fees.