Professor Joseph Ugboaja, Chief Medical Director of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, has promised to engage the governing board and student leaders to address concerns over tuition fees after students protested against an increase from ₦90,000 to ₦580,000.
Students of the School of Nursing at NAUTH in Nnewi, Anambra State, staged a protest on Tuesday, marching within the school premises carrying placards and chanting solidarity songs including "We no go gree, reduce the school fees, we no go gree" to express their displeasure over the increment.
"I will return to the institution and 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. We just had a new board and it decided to review the tuition to enable the institution provide the best for the students. They proposed ₦580,000 to us and we approved it, but there is still room to take another look at it and harmonise things," Ugboaja stated when speaking with journalists on Tuesday.
The fee increment followed an internal memo issued on 23rd January by O.I. Ezejiofor, Chairman of the Board and Chief Medical Advisory Committee of the NAUTH College of Nursing, announcing an upward review of tuition to facilitate improvements in the institution.
Chinyere Onwuka, Public Relations Officer of the institution, disclosed that the leadership of the students' union had distanced itself from the protest, stating she possessed a letter from the union confirming this position.
"They wrote to us and I have the letter here. I don't know those who organised or led the protest," Onwuka stated.
She maintained that the reviewed fees remained moderate, noting that the amount covered feeding and transportation for students during their clinical postings, including trips to Enugu, with a comparison to other schools of nursing in the South East showing that NAUTH's fees were still relatively low.
Professor Ugboaja addressed complaints about accommodation costs, explaining that the school does not own hostels, revealing that most hostels around are privately owned with arrangements made directly between students and owners.
"Our fees have been very cheap, and even with the increment, we are still among the lowest in the South East. Someone who was paying ₦90,000 would naturally protest the increase, but it is to ensure we maintain standards," the Chief Medical Director noted, adding that the institution had maintained relatively low tuition over the years and that the review was aimed at sustaining standards.
