AKWA IBOM POLY Students Protested Over Increased In School fees

The Students of Akwa Ibom
Polytechnic on Monday protested
against the 100 per cent increment of fees by the school’s management.
The Students Union Government’s
(SUG), President, Kingsley Eyo, told
newsmen at Ikot Osurua in Ikot
Ekpene on Monday that the students
were not consulted before the
increment.

He added that the students were not
comfortable with the Rector, Dr Israel Afia’s style of administration,
demanding his removal by the State
Government.

Eyo said students wondered why the
school’s management would chose to bring new fees regime in this period of economic recession.

“The Pre-ND students that were paying N37, 000 are now to pay N69, 200 and ND-1 that were paying 45, 000 are now to pay N76, 200.

“ND-2 students are now to pay N65,
500 as against N38, 000; HND-1 will
have to pay N85, 700 as against N47,500.

“HND-2 students are now to pay N82,700 as against N40, 700 that they were paying before”, Eyo said.

The students also complained that
management had not been publishing their semester results regularly.

He alleged that the first semester
results of ND had always been delayed to final semester of ND-2.

The student union government
president also accused the registrar of being insensitive to the students’
plight.

Eyo said when the union approached
him for dialogue; he retorted that
education was not for the poor.

Eyo threatened that the students would go on violent riot if the school
authority refused to reduce the school fees.

Eyo said the management had also
hijacked the running of Mami Market
from SUG control.

“Mami Market used to be controlled by the students, the management hijacked it.

The levies from the market were
usually paid to the student union
government.

“We had a meeting with them that
since they are collecting the money
from the Mami traders, they should
give us some percentage.

“We needed the money to repair the
bus and some other things.

“Even the park, there are some buses
that are operating within the school
campus, they hijacked the running of
the park from us”, he said.

Rector of the polytechnic, Dr Israel
Afia said in a text message that he was in a meeting and would not speak to the press today.