Students protest in Ekiti

Part-time students at the satellite campus of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, protested yesterday an increment in tuition fee. Over 200 students gathered at the school’s main gate on NTA Road at 7am, saying they couldn’t understand why the fee was increased from N9,000 to N34,000. They carried placards with inscriptions: “We ain’t money- making machine”; “Reduce our school fees now”; “Bring down our fees” and others. The protesters insisted that their action was to compel a reversal by the school authorities, noting it was too heavy a burden upon them. One of the students, who pleaded for anonymity, said: “This protest is also to remind the Rector, Mrs. Theresa Taiwo Akande, about the promise she made during her meeting with the students’ representatives where she said the school could not survive without increasing the fees but that the fees would be increased only after every four years. “This increment has shown she has failed to fulfil the pledge. The fee is being increased every semester. “A member of the students’ representatives sent a letter to the rector but never got a reply. “Another letter was sent to the rector but the story was the same. The institution has been closed for a week, the school’s spokesman, Adeyemi Adejolu, said. Adejolu said the authorities were meeting with the students’ representatives to resolve the impasse, adding that the students had no ground to protest as they were running part-time programmes.