- The Senate on Tuesday asked the authorities of the University of Maiduguri in Borno State to stay action on its plan to hike fee payable by its students.
The Senate on Tuesday asked the authorities of the University of Maiduguri in Borno State to stay action on its plan to hike fee payable by its students.
The red chamber also asked its committee on tertiary education to liaise with the National Universities Commission with a view to working out an arrangement to streamline fees in all tertiary institutions.
The senator representing Borno North, Abubakar Kyari, had in a point of order, drew the attention of his colleagues to hike in fees at the UNIMAID.
He said the increment of the fees from 40 per cent to 400 per cent could force students out of the institution to join insurgents thereby worsening the security situation in the country.
He cited the example of a particular fee which used to be N25, 000 but had been increased to N129, 000.
Kyari said the action could affect education in the North-East geopolitical zone.
He said ensuring that schools in the North-East were open without crisis was important to tackle insecurity especially in Borno State
The senator said, “Half of the men in the North-East have no education at all. This figure rises to over 61 per cent for women. It is imperative that schools in the North-East should remain because of their strategic national importance towards promotion of national security.”
He said education “remains a potent tool to defeat Boko Haram” and a way to deliver the North-East from poverty.
The lawmaker noted that 62 per cent of Nigerian children, who were not in school, were northerners.
Kyari said, “Borno State has the highest number of people that don’t have access to education due to the Boko Haram crisis in particular.”
The senator, therefore, called on all stakeholders to rise to the occasion to ensure that the fee increment was reversed to enhance youth empowerment through education at tertiary levels.
The upper chamber unanimously approved the prayers contained in the motion.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, mandated its Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFUND to investigate the matter with a view to finding a lasting solution to the issue.
He said the committee should also engage the Federal Ministry of Education and stakeholders such as the Academic Staff Union of Universities with a view to reaching consensus on a harmonised fee for all Federal Government’s universities across the country.
