The authorities at the University of Lagos have reacted to the alleged increment of its students’ fees, insisting that the new development aimed at removing hidden costs.
In an exclusive interview, a senior principal official of the university, who does not want to be quoted, said the new total payable fees displayed on each of the students’ portals, contains all legitimate fees and levies charged by the institution, including those earlier charged separately by the various departments and faculties.
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The source, a member of the university management, said the new development is in response to the request by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) that all fees to be paid by every student should be clearly stated at the beginning of every session, and should be posted on each student’s portal to avoid hidden costs, especially for the sake of indigent students who may have applied for loan from the agency.
Backstory
On Tuesday, some returning students of the university had cried to the public over what they described as an abrupt increment of the fees charged by the university.
An unidentified student of the university’s Department of Marine Biology, who shared an unclear screenshot of their portal displaying the list of payable fees for the 2025/2026 academic session that has just commenced, said a total of N150,000 has been added to the N257,500 total fee paid during the last session.
In response, a terse statement issued by the Fund Education Coalition, a group of young Nigerians campaigning for free education in the country, alleged that the university had increased its fees by more than 100 per cent.
A statement signed by the group’s Co-Convener, Adeyeye Olorunfemi, described as insane the alleged imposition of between N450,000 and N500,000 as school fees on poor Nigerians.
He noted that when accommodation fees are added to the new fees, then the total amount payable per session by a student would have risen beyond the reach of an average Nigerian student.
The statement reads in part: “The plan of the Tinubu regime is to take it to 1 million Naira in the shortest possible time. This is not an exaggeration. We said all these as far back as 2018, repeated same during our 2023 protests.
“During the last popular #FeesMustFall struggle that started from UNILAG to other campuses, we were able to force reductions to the tune of about 70,000 Naira. Some charlatans who never participated in any protests jumped on it and claimed it as their victory. They then confused the students that the reduction was enough victory, while we insisted on total reversal. We warned that a day like this would come. We warned that we are dealing with people who have turned education to how you price jeans at Yaba market. Bring it up today, drop tomorrow. In UNILAG, it has moved from 25k (N25,000) to over 400k (N400,000) in a space of 2 years.”
Clarification
According to the source, the university students had been paying more than what is now displayed on their portal, noting that every other fee the students had been paying separately before have now been combined to reflect on their portal.
The university official said this became necessary because NELFUND does not want its beneficiaries to pay extra penny after it may have paid their fees on their behalf directly to the institutions’ accounts.
They said, “The students had always paid those fees. It’s not a new thing. It was NELFUND’s decision that it should be paid all at once so that the loan could capture everything and no student would have any reason to separate other charges personally.
“Those who have done Marine Sciences since the ‘90s have always had trips to Ghana, and they paid. Those who study courses such as French, Russian and Chinese Languages that require immersion programmes spend one year outside the campuses by going to French Village, or even China, where they pay separately. Though those category of students pay directly to the French Village or other places; they don’t pay to the university, and so such fees don’t appear on their portals”.
The source said there are certain courses that take students out of the university, and that mandatorily such concerned students pay for such field trips to cover transportation, accommodation, among others.
University issues statement
Meanwhile, the university’s communication unit late Tuesday night issued a statement to clarify the development, reechoing the source’s position.
The statement, signed by the head of the unit, Adejoke Alaga-Ibraheem, said the university reassures “students, parents, and the general public that there has been no fee hike.”
“What has taken place is a consolidation of approved dues that students previously paid separately at the faculty and departmental levels, charges which were not earlier captured on the students’ central payment portal,” the statement further noted.
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It said the decision was in compliance with a directive from the Federal Ministry of Education, which reportedly mandates all universities with students benefiting NELFUND to unify all payable fees into a single structure.
It said the new system ensures that once students make payment through their official portal, no other payment will be collected at the faculty and departmental levels.
“The university reassures that the system of consolidation of approved dues in one place enables NELFUND to capture and pay all fees accruing to students,” adding that the amounts reflected on the portals differ across programmes based on specific academic requirements.
“This does not amount to a fee hike but an integration of previously separate, legitimate dues,” it reiterated.