Protest Erupts at Unilag’s Idi-Araba Campus over Hostel Fee Hike
Students at the University of Lagos’s Idi-Araba campus in Lagos State are up in arms over a sudden and significant increase in hostel fees. The students most affected are those from the College of Medicine and the Faculty of Pharmacy.
The fee hike, reportedly triggered by a decision by the school management to raise hostel fees to ₦80,000 for two semesters and ₦100,000 for a full academic year, has left students outraged. This represents a substantial increase from the previous fee of ₦65,000 that was agreed upon during the previous session.
Enraged by the sudden change, students are chanting slogans like “Change the memo, we no dey go” and demanding a reversal of the fee increase. Many feel let down by the management’s decision to impose higher fees despite prior agreements.
In response to the protests, UNILAG authorities have issued an eviction order, instructing students to vacate the hostels, which has further escalated the tense situation on campus. However, defiant protesters are refusing to budge and are insisting that their demands be met before they consider leaving.
A letter from the Principal Assistant Secretary of the Students’ Affairs Unit, Olusegun Akinnagbe, directed students to vacate the hostels, despite having paid the full year’s fees. The letter, addressed to non-medical graduating and undergraduate students in the College of Medicine and Faculty of Pharmacy, requires students who wish to stay in the hostel to apply in writing through their Head of Department to the Provost, specifying the length of their intended stay. These applications must reach the Students’ Affairs Office by October 28, 2024.
