The management of the state-owned university had recently announced new fees for the fresh students.
The National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS) has given Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Ondo State, Prof Adesegun Fatusi 72-hour ultimatum to revise downwards students’ tuition.
The students want the school to return tuition to the initial fees.
The management of the state-owned university had recently announced new fees for the fresh students.
According to a statement by the school management, the institution now charges over N2 million for students who are non-indigenes while indigenes are to pay over N1.5 million for medical programmes.
Indigenous students studying courses like Biochemistry and Physiology are to pay N350,000 per session and non-indigenous students are to pay N400,000.
Non-indigenous students studying Dentistry in the preclinical years would pay N2.245 million while their Indigenous counterparts will pay N1.320 million.
Comrade Omotoso Surprise, NANS Ondo JCC Chairman in a statement described the new fee as “too outrageous” for parents to afford.
He called on the government and school management to review the fees downwards.
Surprise further lambasted the Vice-Chancellor of the institution for failing to honour a meeting with the leadership of the association.
He said, “It is disheartening and sardonic to have heard of the satanic increment in tuition fees,” he said.
“It should be noted that a letter was written and submitted to the school management in order to have a way forward to peacefully, amicably and intellectually iron things out without no menace and shutting down of this campus (UNIMED) but we are saddened and baffled by the display of unprofessionalism and incompetence of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Adesegun Fatusi.
“At first we were disappointed because no sane management would boycott dialogue that would have curbed for instance; closure of the school among others. Professor Adesegun failed to honour the meeting with the leadership of NANS and this to us is an act of not just negligence of duty but a show of shame, incompetence, lack of integrity, misplaced priority and failure.
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“Professor Adesegun proved to the world, not just the leadership of NANS or Nigerian students how shallow his reasoning can be the moment he sent the officers of Amotekun to disperse the leadership of NANS.
“This to us is hilarious but then it shows the Vice-Chancellor cannot in any way defend the increment. The VC that asked that the campus be locked down on the arrival of NANS leadership to have a peaceful meeting with him could call Amotekun corps to disperse student leaders who came solely for consultations.
“The VC Professor Adesegun has shown his level of cluelessness and incapability to steer the affairs of UNIMED because even before now we did not expect any institution to solely depend on students to generate internal revenues (IGR).
“At this juncture, it is imperative to emphatically and unequivocally enjoin the Vice-Chancellor to do the needful in the next 72 hours otherwise we will be left with no choice but to resolve to the last ‘C’ of Aluta which is confrontation.”
