NAUTH Management Insists Fees Remain Relatively Affordable as Students Protest Hike

Students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, School of Nursing, on Tuesday protested what they described as an astronomical hike in their tuition fees.
The students protested the increase in their tuition from N90,000 to N580,000. The increment was said to have followed an internal memo reportedly issued on January 23 by O. I. Ezejiofor, CMAC and Chairman of the Board of NAUTH College of Nursing, announcing an upward review of the students’ school fees, citing the need to upgrade the institution.
In response, the students staged a protest at the school gate, carrying placards to express their opposition to the hike. Some of the students who spoke rejected the new fees and also complained about the cost of accommodation in the institution.
However, the management of the institution has pledged to meet with members of the board and the student union leadership to resolve all outstanding issues and ensure that peace returns to the institution.
The Chief Medical Director of the institution, Prof. Joseph Ugonna, who spoke with journalists, said he was away when the protest occurred but had been informed about it.
“Once I return to the institution, we will sit with members of the board who proposed the new tuition and also with the student union leadership to sort things out.
“As for the school fees, yes, there was an increment. You know we just had a new board, and the board decided to review the tuition in order to give the students the very best. They proposed N580,000 to us (management), which we approved, but there is still room for us to take a better look at it and harmonize things.
“Our fees have been very cheap, and even with the increment, we are still among the lowest in the South-East. So, for someone who was paying N90,000, it is understandable that they would protest the increase, but it is for their own good so that we can maintain standards.
“As for other complaints about the cost of accommodation, the institution does not own any hostels. Most of them are private hostels, and the arrangements are between the students and the owners,” Ugonna stated.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Mrs. Chinyere Onwuka, also told journalists that the leadership of the students’ union of the institution had dissociated itself from the protest.
“They wrote to us, and I have the letter here. I do not know those who organized or led the protest. Meanwhile, let me tell you that the hike in fees was very moderate.
“That amount includes their feeding and transportation to postings in Enugu. The hostels they talked about are a private arrangement between them and the owners.”Onwuka said.
She insisted that a comparison of the institution’s school fees with those of other schools of nursing around the South-East showed that NAUTH’s fees remained relatively affordable.
She added that some other institutions charge as much as N800,000 as tuition for returning students, even excluding feeding.