ERC opposes ‘extortionist policies’ in Osun State University

The Education Rights Campaign in Osun State has condemned “in its absolute terms the recent increment in accommodation fees, among other extortionate policies” by the management of the Osun State University at the Faculty of Law (Ifetedo Campus).

Few days ago, the management of the institution at the Ifetedo campus increased the accommodation levy by N20,000 from N60,000.

Furthermore, all students, irrespective of whether they want to live in the school hostels or not, must compulsorily pay the accommodation fees.

Reacting to the development, ERC, in a statement signed by its Acting State Secretary, Abbey Falodun, on Tuesday said the Governor Adegboyega Oyetola-led administration should have a rethink on the issue.

Falodun said: “In the first instance, students are paying N60,000 per bed space in a room occupied by six students, thus making a room, at N360,000 per room, to be the costliest in the state. Aside the fact that the rooms, with the number of students, are not conducive for learning, basic facilities like toilets and running water are not adequately provided by the management. With the new increase of N20,000, the school management that was making a total sum of at least N360,000 per room now want to be making a total sum of at least almost half a million naira on a room without any improvement in facilities in the hostel. This is highly condemnable.

“Another obnoxious policy of the School management is the introduction of the exploitative school food canteen whereby students are banned from cooking their own food but must buy food from the school canteen at the rate of N750-N800 per plate of food. The school management has not been able to explain to the students as they have come up with the choice of food each student would prefer to eat. They have yet been able to explain how they come up with such exorbitant price per plate of food which is more than a dollar, in a country where over 70% of the population live below a dollar per day. This obnoxious and exploitative policy is being implemented by the school management without any consultation with the students and their parents. It is interesting to note that the food canteen is being run by private businesses. How can the management then operate policies aimed at promoting private businesses at the expense of the students it is expected to protect?

“All this is an attempt by the Oyetola-led Osun State government, through the university management to commercialize university education in the state, a policy that must be condemned and resisted in its entirety. It is important to note that since the establishment of the university, the state government under (former Governor Rauf) Aregbesola and Oyetola had not undertaken any capital projects in the institution. The only projects being implemented are TETFUND intervention projects. Moreover, the university depends mostly on its internal revenue mostly gotten from extortionate fees students pay. This explains why the students has poor infrastructures and facilities for proper learning.  To add insult to injury, the university management has turned students to puppets without any rights, while extorting them.

“We condemn this, and call for the immediate reversal of the extortionate policies, including the increase in hostel fees and other hostel policies such as compulsory payment of hostel fees and compulsory feeding at exorbitant cost at the privately-owned hostel canteen. We also call for the immediate reopening of the campus, and stoppage any form of victimization of students who peacefully protested the irresponsible policies of the school management.

“We call on Oyetola/APC-led state government to fund the university adequately by providing all necessary studying and living facilities for students in all the six campuses of the university. We also demand proper funding of other levels of education in the state including the state owned polytechnics and colleges of education, and primary and secondary schools in the state. We call for democratic running of education sector in the state to include elected representatives of students, education workers and parents. We call for the reversal of extortionate fees in all the educational institutions in the state.”