Students of the National Open University Of
Nigeria, NOUN , Benin Study Centre , this
week , took to the streets of Benin, Edo state
capital, to protest the excessive fees hike by
the school management .
This came just a few days after students of
Obafemi Awolowo University , OAU , Ile - Ife,
were sent home for protesting hike in their
school fees.

Aigbokhia Paul , who spoke with P.M .NEWS
Campus Square, “ Students of NOUN are tired
of this daylight robbery. The increment is
harsh and detrimental . We cannot continue
to suffer and smile in silence as if all is well
with us . We will get there soon and they will
know we are no longer the babies they take
us to be ” .
Peters explained: “ Can you imagine that we
have to pay a minimum of 112 , 000 naira in a
session now ? NOUN school fees and course
registration are paid every semester , how can
this be done in a 21 st century ?

“ The minimum amount you register for a
course is N2, 500, while some could be for as
high as N 3, 500 and students apply for a
minimum of 7 courses in a semester.

“ That does not include the fact that some will
have to pay N 13, 000 as school fees for
another semester as against N 2, 500 that we
used to pay .

“ Students progressing to another level also
have to pay N 23, 000 which was formerly
N15, 000. All of these are not part of the
registration fee for examination which leaped
from N1000 to N2000 .

“ Students of NOUN are aggrieved and we
want our voices to be heard so that the fees
will be reverted” .

Mass protest over increase in students ’ fees
without prior warning have triggered student
protests and resistance in different parts of
Nigeria.

Elizabeth, another student of NOUN in their
Ikeja Lagos, study center , said : “ How can we
be paying school fees every semester like
secondary school students ? “ The fees are
‘crazy ’ and there are hardly lecturers for us .
They always advise us to go home and read
for examinations .

“ I am yet to resume for the new semester
because I am yet to pay my school fees . I
really don’ t know why they came up with this
system of paying school fee every semester .”
The National Open University of Nigeria is an
Open and Distance Learning , ODL institution ,
the first of its kind in the West African sub-
region. The university , at present, has 54
Centres spread across the country .

The National Open University of Nigeria
operates from its Administrative Headquarters
in Lagos. Nigeria, with Study Centres
throughout the country .

Over 50 programmes and 750 courses , from
Certificate , Diploma and Degree levels , are
being offered in the institution.


http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2014/06/27/noun-students-protest-fees-hike/