The uproar that has trailed the alleged increment of tuition fee of Kwara state Polytechnic has attracted comments from eminent personalities and institution in the state. MUMINI ABDULKAREEM writes on the issue.
Agitated Resumption
For the staff, students and management of the Kwara State Polytechnic, the month of November, 2017 will no doubt go down as one of its most troubled periods in the history of the school reputed as one of the most thriving state owned tertiary institutions around. While the students were planning resumption for the 2017/18 academic session, registration issues that centered on alleged increment of its tuition fee rocked the academic environment to its foundation and left the school at the mercy of student protests and unrest. For the first time in many years, the much disputed tuition fee hullabaloo attracted comments from top quarters in the state and put many stakeholders at a loss over the exact situation on ground. It further left many struggling to rationalise what sort of negotiation was taking place to normalise the issue. The matter which started like an expression of difference of opinion in the beginning between students and management peaked along the line and almost consume the parties involved like a bushfire. In their state of “No retreat no surrender”, the students found a worthy ally in the period of their predicament in the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS). The body rose to their defence and subsequently lead a showdown in the process.
The Ultimatum
While the discordant tunes that had dominated the Kwara Poly discuss among the students and management raged, the NAPS support was added adrenalin for the already troubled students. Subsequently the student union issued a seven-day ultimatum to the institution’s management to reverse the fees, failure of which there will be a massive protest. In a press release signed by its National President, Comrade Enneji Mohammed and Public Relations Officer, Comrade Ijaduoye Olasunkanmi Adetoye, NAPS expressed displeasure over the tuition increment and described it as “a ploy to cheat on struggling students by some opportunists at the helm of affairs”. The body appealed to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, who is an alumnus of the polytechnic to assist the students by reversing the newly approved school fees and instructed the students not pay any fees until the matter is resolved. NAPS sought the Governor’s intervention to return to status quo ante especially in this time of economic hardship to avoid any confrontation with the organisation.
Protest
Riding on the back of the NAPS support, the students who had all along maintained that there was increment hinted on a peacefully protest to further drive home their point. Frustrated by their inability to resolve the issue prior resumption and lacking a valid student union representative body to harness, articulate and champion their grievances to negotiate with the school management, the students gathered themselves to embark on a peaceful protest to draw attention to their plight. According to the students who marched to Government House to register their displeasure over the increment, the management should reverse the increment or face further academic unrest. Carrying placards with different inscriptions, they accused the school authorities of allegedly hiking the fees by a high percent to the detriment of the students. They alleged that indigent students who paid N32, 500 last academic session were now requested to pay N52, 500 while non-indigenes who paid N32,090 are to pay N75,000. They noted that the current situation in the country would not guarantee the payment of such an amount especially under heavily compromised salary payment regime for many local government workers who formed larger part of the state workforce. The requested the government and management of the school to reverse the fees, adding that the students would not want to be lured into crime or prostitution due to the inability of their parents to afford the fees.
The Denials
But their request was meant with swift and strong denial from the government and management officials who even raised doubt about the authenticity of the status of the protesters in the first place. While first reacting to the issue, media reports quoted the Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Mahmud Babatunde Ajeigbe, that, “Even the management of the institution has come out clear that it has not increased tuition fees. Those people are just trying to seek public attention”. Furthermore, the management of the institution also vehemently denied any increase in the amount payable as school fees for the new academic session. The Rector, Alhaji Masu’d Akanbi Elelu, at a media briefing in Ilorin ironically held at the Government House, said returning students will pay same amount paid in their previous academic year. Elelu’s position was further corroborated by the school’s Director of Information, Alhaji Moshood Amuda, who described such report as a rumour since the school had not officially resumed then and further hinted that the school portal may have been hacked.
Promoted Refutation/Advertorials
In its bid to reassure the general public and stakeholders that it did not increase tuition, the school management contradicted the students allegation on the tuition in published advert detailing its school fees “in view of the misconception in the public domain regarding its chargeable fee. The advertorial further added that “the polytechnic has developed a policy since 2015/16 session that whatever student pay in his/her first session is what such a student will pay in the second session. It further gave the breakdown of the fees for indigenes as follows: ND1 (2015/16) session, 38,700 and 39,000 inclusive of Alumni fees for ND II in 2016/17 session. HND I in 2015/16 session, 44,200 and 40,500 excluding SUG fees HND 11 in the 2016/17 session. ND I 2016/17, 52,000 and same 52,000 for ND II in 2018 while HND I and II for the two session was 58,500.
Interventions
While the accusation and denial lasted, Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and other leaders in the state including institutions like the Kwara state House of Assembly reacted but in a conflicted manner. According to Saraki who tweeted from his personal handle over the issue, there is need for a “REDUCTION” which corroborated the students long held position despite the sharp denials that has trailed it from the management. The Senate President’s tweet added that information at his disposal showed an upward review of the tuition fees by the Polytevhnic’s management and appealed to the students and their parents to remain calm that the Kwara State government would revisit the issue.
”Just this morning, students from my constituency sent me the details of the school fees the Registrar of the Kwara State Polytechnic released for the 2017/2018 academic session through Whatsapp. After reviewing it, I found that there had been a deliberate attempt to confuse and mislead the state government and the general public. It is obvious that a second year student in 2017/18 is now expected to pay N20,000 more than they paid in the 2016/17 session. This is contrary to the claim contained in the statement released by the institution just last week. With the present economic situation, this increment is unacceptable.
Defence
After Saraki’s intervention, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed advanced the argument through a statement by his media aide, Dr. Muideen Akorede, maintaining that the school retained the same tuition charged in the 2016/2017 for the 2017/18 academic session. The Governor however went ahead through his Facebook page to urged the management of the institution to reduce the current fees by N5,000. He noted that the reduction in the fees was in recognition of the current economic challenges facing families in the country.
“I had taken serious note of the concerns expressed by stakeholders in the State, including the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, about students, guardians and parents’ capability to pay the initial approved school fees by management of the polytechnic for the 2017/2018 academic session. I thank all those who had intervened in the matter. The Kwara State Polytechnic relies on school fees to meet its obligations to students and staff”, Ahmed noted.
The Probe
Following the controversy the issue generated between the students and management and individual responses from Saraki and the Governor, the Kwara State House of Assembly waded into the rift to unravel the disputed increase in the tuition. Speaking after a three-hour meeting between the Legislature, Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Dr. Aminat Ahmed, Governing Council, Management and student representatives of the institution, the Speaker, Dr Ali Ahmad, who presided over the meeting, “confirmed” that the House found as a fact that there was a 19.4 % increase in the tuition for 2017/2018 academic session over that of 2016/2017 session. Similarly, the House said “information available at the hearing showed an increase of between 18% and 33.3 % for 2017/2018 session over and above fees paid in 2016/2017. The legislature thereafter directed the school management to reflect the “50% reduction in fees as directed by the state Governor” and urged the institution to seriously improve on its communication channels with students to avoid future controversies. The parliament further urged the management to resuscitate Student Union Government (SUG) to ensure students’ representation on key policy decisions that could impact their wellbeing.
Order/Warning
The lawmakers in its resolutions after considering the report of the House Committee on Education and Human Capital Development on Wednesday urged the state government to “immediately” revert to the last academic session’s tuition fee regime for all categories of students of the Polytechnic on the controversy surrounding tuition fee. Reading the resolutions of the legislature, the Speaker, Dr Ali Ahmad, said “status quo ante”, be maintained on payment of tuition fee by all categories of students. The Parliament equally urged the management of the institution to ensure that whoever had paid the new tuition fee, be refunded in the interest of equity, fair play and justice. The legislature “frowned at misinformation by the Polytechnic Management and urged Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed to seriously warn the Polytechnic Management, to desist from misleading the public on issues bordering on the wellbeing of students.
Puzzles
To be sure, the most conflicted aspect of the Kwara Poly tuition brouhaha was the responses of many leaders in the state who had expressed “divergent” views. But the questions now that have agitated the minds of keen followers of the issue in the midst of the continued denial of the government and management included the following: If there was no increment, what triggered the student protests in the first place which many believed was avoidable. And if there was no such increment, why did the Senate President called for reduction. For those that will argue that Saraki’s findings is not strong enough to be situated within the confines of institutional framework, what also happened to the position of the House of Assembly that also strongly and sharply contradicted the theory of no increment. Questions have also been asked whether it was possible for the school Rector/management to unilaterally increase tuition without the input of the government or whether the legitimate drive for resources by the management should be embarked upon at the detriment of sound, affordable and qualitative education even though some are of the opinion that the polytechnic still serves as one of the most affordable in this axis nationwide. Furthermore, what motive Elelu was trying to achieve by LYING to the government as alleged by the state Assembly over the matter and it is not high time the “subvention dynamics” be revisited and properly situated to realise and free the education potentials of the state. All these are puzzles that are still begging for answers.
Vigilance
According to watchers and some stakeholders, the government must be very careful and circumspect the way it responds to issue like this that has strong affinity with the populace and they found allies in the local government salary backlog issue. In fact many believed the shock waves that rippled across the state during the last council poll where party leaders were humbled at their polling units has a connection, in a way, with some of the utterances and responses over issues of public interests. Now this government no doubt lost considerable goodwill during the last council election and going forward, it needs all the available white propaganda, facts, figures, calculated responses and very high diplomatic attitude to calm many frayed nerves especially now that the 2019 election is lurking around the corner. Analysts believe that many other grouses of the people should not and must not be given the Kwara poly treatment otherwise the end results of such dogma in the face of contrary reports and findings might not be helpful to the government. If anything, it can only further provide the opposition with the moral high ground to sermonise the people on indices of good governance with all the attendant effects and allowed it to steal from where the ruling party has consistently argued it did not sow.
Counsel
Many commentators believed that the state can do better in the present circumstance especially as education is vital to human capital and resource development. The thinking is to urged the government in addition to requisite human resources, to look into deploying some chunk in the massive resources that has accrued to its coffers through the window of KWIRS tax regime, a whopping N37 billion in two years with rich prospect to dwarf that amount subsequently, to positively impact the state tertiary education “crisis” as well as other critical sectors in the state.
