TheCable

The University of Ibadan (UI) appears to have commenced an upward review of the fees for its fresh students.

Multiple student sources confirmed to TheCable on Thursday that the rates, hiked by up to 480%, were published on their online portals.

Keye Abiona, the UI dean of student affairs, was quoted as initially confirming the hike to a media publication at the university campus.

The dean however declined further comment on the matter when contacted by TheCable.

Adejoke Akinpelu, the university PRO, told TheCable that the portal will, in due time, give a full picture of what the 2024 rates should be.

“The fees are personalised for the students based on their courses of study and will be uploaded on their platforms from tomorrow or later. Kindly wait until the fees are uploaded and you have the facts,” the university public relations person stated in a text.

Student sources who spoke to TheCable on the matter shared screenshots of the new rates displayed on their respective portals.

One such shows a base fee of N372,000 with an additional N40,000 to be incurred in utility and technology fees, amounting to N412,000.

Another shows N203,500 in total university fees payable by the fresh student, including both utility and technology fees.

Some students in other departments clarified that they were not able to access their studentship portal.

A student admitted in 2023 confirmed that new intakes at the University of Ibadan previously paid between N64,600 to N69,600.

This change amounts to a hike of 492.5 percent, with well-sought courses like medicine paying much higher than their counterparts.

In 2023, several federal universities raised their fees by over 100%, citing a rising cost of living that impacted operational expenditure.

Among the federal universities that upped their rate are the University of Lagos (UNILAG) which amounted to a hike of about 800 percent, the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), and the University of Nigeria (UNN) Nsukka.

The hikes resulted in a nationwide protest across campuses, with students forcing university management into negotiating a drop.

The management of UI, at around that time, also moved to raise the total fees payable by its fresh intakes to N175,000 on average in a proposal that remained unapproved due to the nationwide dissolution of public university governing councils by the federal government.