“The Solutions to these Problems are in Our Hands”, says Host, Enjoins Students to Unite against Price Increments

Lawal Maruf

The Students Union President, University of Ibadan, Samuel Samson Tobiloba (Host), has on Saturday, October 7, 2023, charged the faculty presidents, department presidents, halls of residence chairpersons, and the students to take a unanimous stance against the increase and introduction of some fees. This statement was made during the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) sitting that was held at the SRC Chamber.

Following the comments from the members of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) after he had presented the “State of the Union” on the floor of the house at the SRC chamber, he noted that only a concerted effort could be made to drive home students’ demands.

At the sitting, some of the members of the Council had decried the leniency of the SU executive to meet with the University management and effect changes on increments such as the introduction of some new fees, the hike in transportation on campus, and the increment in the prices of meals in most of the school cafetarias, such as the new price of 150 naira per spoon of rice, instead of the former 100 naira.

While responding to the comments, the UI SU President stated that a lot of efforts had been put in place to resolve the issues of increment in school fees and other introduced levies, however, most of the students are more concerned about the academic calendar.

“We sent out a survey when the increase in the school fees was introduced. We know the type of responses we got, we received a lot of messages that said that no matter what the union intense to do, we should ensure that the calendar is not disrupted”, he said.

He maintained that the most effective remedy to the current issues is that the students speak in one voice and stand firm against the payment of the new Faculty, Departmental, laboratory and studio fees.

“The solution to all these problems is in our hands if we decide to do it together. But when you implore people to come out for things like this, then you realize that you are actually standing alone”.

On the increase in the prices of food in some cafeterias on campus, the President affirmed that he never directed the Hall chairpersons to resolve the issue by themselves.

“We had a meeting and there I asked the chairpersons of all halls to conduct a survey in their halls to gauge the students’ opinions, on the current price. Majority of them came back with the feedback that most of their students are okay with the price being 150 naira”, he said.