Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo, on Wednesday, appealed to tertiary institutions owned by the Ogun State Government to reduce fees payable by students.
Oluomo appealed to them to consider the plight of indigent students and their poor parents by doing a downward review of the recently hiked tuition fees.
Students of Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun and those of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, recently took to the streets to protest the hike in fees by the institutions’ managements.
Minority Leader and lawmaker representing Odogbolu State Constituency, Lukman Adeleye, during Wednesday’s plenary called the Assembly’s attention to the sudden hike in fees and the protests that greeted the development.
Earlier in his presentation, Adeleye recounted the recent mass protest by the students of Tai Solarin University of Education, pleading that the Assembly wade into the matter to ensure a reduction of the hiked fees.
Oluomo in his reaction acknowledged the adverse effects of the economic challenges being faced by parents currently.
The Speaker said it’s “important for the Heads of the tertiary institutions to show more compassion and empathy by allowing the new fees to wear human faces so as not to put the students at a disadvantage.”
He explained that though the institutions might have the compelling need to increase their fees to meet their pressing needs, given the high rate of inflation, the fees should be affordable.