UNICAL Students Protest 100% Tuition Fee Hike, Campus Activities Disrupted

The University of Calabar (UNICAL) witnessed a standstill in academic activities on Monday as students took to the streets to protest a 100% hike in tuition fees announced by the institution's management. The university had earlier released an updated fee schedule for the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 academic sessions.

The peaceful protest, consisting of over 100 students, led to the blockade of roads entering the campus, causing significant traffic disruptions. Protesters, wielding fresh leaves and displaying placards with various messages, voiced their dissatisfaction with the fee increase.

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Some of the inscriptions on the placards read, "We came to school to study, not to kill our parents" and "The Vice Chancellor of UniCal went to school in her days, free of charge, but today wants to kill students with crazy charges."

In an interview with NAN, one of the protesters, Tony Erei, expressed their commitment to continuing the protest until the institution reverts to the previous fee structure. Erei emphasized the economic challenges faced by Nigerians and criticized the untimely increment in charges while students and parents are still grappling with the aftermath of previous fee hikes.

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Amarachi Obialor, another student, described the situation as "sheer wickedness and insensitivity by our leaders." Heavy police presence was observed around the protesters to maintain order and prevent any escalation of tensions.

Reportedly, with the new fee structure, both fresh and returning students in non-science courses are expected to pay N111,000, N91,500, and N114,000, respectively, along with third-party dues. Science-based courses' fees have also seen an increase to N155,000, N125,000, and N148,000 for freshers, returning students, and final-year students, respectively.

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The protest underscores the growing concerns among students about the affordability of education, prompting a call for a review of the fee hike by UNICAL's management.