The management of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) College of Nursing has suspended the newly proposed tuition fees for nursing students following widespread student protests
The decision comes after students raised concerns over what they described as an “exploitative” increase in tuition. On Tuesday, a group of students marched to the college’s main gate to protest the hike, which would have seen fees rise from N90,000 to N580,000—a 544 percent increase.
The tuition review had been announced in an internal memo dated January 23 by O. I. Ezejiofor, CMAC and chairman of the NAUTH College of Nursing board, citing the need to upgrade the institution.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Joseph Ugboaja, chief medical director of NAUTH, said management would meet with the hospital board, which had proposed the new fees, to resolve the dispute. He noted that the college had maintained relatively low tuition for years and that even the proposed fees were among the most affordable in the south-east.
In a Thursday briefing on Channels Television, Ugboaja confirmed that the implementation of the new tuition policy had been suspended.
“The decision followed meetings with student leaders, school management, and the governing board after the protest,” he explained. “What the students complained about was that they were not carried along in the final decision-making on the fees. They were aware a review was coming and their opinions were sought, but they felt excluded at the final stage.”
Ugboaja added that the protest was largely driven by concerns over student involvement rather than being initiated by student leaders themselves. He stated that a committee would now re-engage students to ensure all parties reach a consensus on the way forward.
“So, we have stopped the implementation, and the committee will now go back to engage the students so that all parties can meet and agree on the way forward,” he said.
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Power of a protest