Mr Banji Okunomo, a Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State, has urged Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to intervene in the high school fees being charged in the state’s higher institutions.
Okunomo, who is aspiring as governor in the state 2020 gubernatorial election, made this appeal in a statement on Monday in Okitipupa while reacting to the closure of two of the state’s universities, following continued students’ protest against hike in tuition.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko (AAUA) and the Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH), Okitipupa, have been shut due to protest by students against tuition hike.
The politician noted that students in those institutions now pay N300,000, N250,000 and N200,000 against N120,000, N100,000 and N75,000 that had obtained for various courses.
Okunomo, who is also the state PDP Publicity Secretary, lamented that if this trend was not reversed, the children of the downtrodden might be forced to drop out of school, as they could not afford the high tuition.
“These students dropping out of schools will eventually take to social vices the moment they are at home staying idle.
“We appeal to the governor to consider the plights of these students and their parents and reduce their tuition accordingly for them to go back to classes”.