AFAS DUES AND MATTERS ARISING

It has always been a tradition for students associations to release a breakdown of association dues at the beginning of every session. But being the peculiar semester this session started with, the Executive’s release of the breakdown of AFAS dues was greeted with surprise. For many, since students will not be on campus, the payment of association dues was the least on their minds. The breakdown of dues read: 

Basic dues-two thousand five hundred naira (#2500) 

ID cards- five hundred naira (#500) 

Shirt- two thousand naira (#2000)

Dinner- two thousand naira (#2000)

Excursion- ten thousand naira (#10,000). 

The breakdown raises a lot of questions. First, do students really have to pay dues in a session where schooling is solely virtual? Second, why the increase in basic due? Third, why should students keep paying for ID cards that serve little or no purpose? Last, why should all payments (except excursion) be made compulsory for fresh students?

While we may excuse the fact that students have to pay dues in a virtual school, on the grounds that, the association needs money to  run the affairs of the association, especially in the second semester, when it is hoped that school resumes physically, other questions cannot be left unanswered. 

Basic due saw an increase from two thousand naira (#2000) to two thousand five hundred naira(#2500). When AFASPRESS inquired from the President, Eniola Francis, why the price went up, he pointed that:”With the Inflation rate in the country, if we want basic due to  cover all the areas it is always being budgeted for to an extent, it needs to increase. The truth is, basic due will not even suffice all these areas 100%. We’ve also been in search for sponsors so as to fund other areas that might be underfunded”. 

Now, it would be fair to admit that the country is in an economic crises. Cost of items have doubled, some tripled, which will be a plausible reason for the increase. However, from a different lens, it will also fair to point that not all social activities will take place this semester. First semester activities like fresher’s welcome and the rest definitely cannot take place physically (at least, not within the school environment). The most that can be done at the moment is  take these activities online. And if they ever do, they will cost very little. 

Last week, in an interview with AFASPRESS, the President asserted that all social activities will be moved to second semester. But how feasible is it to compress the social activities of two semesters into one. Everyone knows second semester is the shorter of the two semesters; there is hardly enough time for anything. So if we are being honest, not all activities will take place. What this means is, less activities, less expenses.  The Executive should leverage on that to reduce expenses and the price of basic dues. Besides, they can always get sponsors to fund some of these activities, so the burden should not be on the association alone. 

Again, payment for ID cards has been made compulsory. Articles have been written to address this yearly problem that has come bearing the name-ID cards. Over time, AFAS ID cards have proven to be unnecessary as they serve little or purpose. The University’s ID card has nullified any need for the faculty to have another ID card, as long as it does not come with any special feature- such as being useful for making payments. The school ID card, which is more recognized contains basic  information- name, department,  Hall of residence, which is what anyone needs. AFAS ID cards merely repeat this details, in a modified version. Therefore, there’s really nothing special about the AFAS ID card. Many students also know this as they only pay because of the compulsion and do not bother to get the cards from the AFAS office. 80% of the present final year students collected an ID card last in their first year, just because they had no need of it, while the other 20% who collected, had them kept away in their purses or maybe lost. This goes on to show that the cards are serve no purpose, yet the Executive keeps asking students to pay for it. 

Last session, the immediate past president, Daniel Anagwaonye(Simple) in an interview with AFASPRESS tried to defend the reasons for the compulsive payment for ID cards. He asserted that the ID cards were useful for identification of who comes and goes out of the faculty. His defense however does not hold much water. Through out the session, hardly anyone was stopped by security officers within the faculty to present their ID cards, except in the late hours of the night, and even when such happens, the school ID card would adequately suffice for identification. It is more evil to make students pay for what is less useful to them, especially in a session as peculiar as this.  

Then, there’s the compulsory payment payment for all items(except excursion) for fresh students. The Executive probably need to be reminded that everyone has a choice and people can decide for themselves whether they want something or not. Payments for freshmen should have been made optional  as well. The Ojukiti Shola administration made payments of shirts and dinner optional for fresh students and they were not less successful. 

The story of how the pandemic gave the Nigerian economy a bad injury is not alien. In the last one year, the number of people laid-off has increased, compared to past years, while many others now earn lower than they used to. Now that students have resumed, they are also nursing their own part of the injury. Students are not allowed on campus; so many students have to more than double of what they used to pay in school hostels, adding to their financial burden. Without even discussing the increased cost of food items and essential items, being a Nigerian student is financially demanding, especially in an economy as this.  Nobody is alienated from the poor economic situation; so it is a situation everyone is well aware of. The Executive should therefore be considerate in with these fees. While it is necessary to levy for basic dues, it is entirely unnecessary to levy for ID cards. For the shirts, dinner and excursion, students can decide if they want to pay for all or not. Unnecessary financial burdens should be the least thing students have to worry about. 

AFAS PRESS PUBLICATION