[Adesewa]

   
Ondo State government yesterday defended the fee increment at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA).
It said it inherited crisis in the institution, stressing the need for increment in tuition fee.
Speaking through Information and Orientation Commissioner Yemi Olowolabi, the government denied that the increment was up 500 per cent.
Olowolabi, who noted that the N30,000 fee paid by students was unrealistic, said the increment reflected the reality in the country.
He said: “The governing council looked at the fee paid by students in the state-owned University of Science and Technology, which is between N120,000 and N150,000; University of Medical Sciences, Ondo (N350, 000 and N450,000); while students of Adekunle Ajasin University pay N30,000.”
The commissioner said it was after the comparison that the government decided to carry out the increment.
“For seven months before we came on board, salaries were not paid, accreditations were lost and no subvention paid to the institution. We met a crisis situation on ground.
“It was after these that the governing council decided that what the students were paying as fees were unrealistic.”
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has ordered students not to pay the new fees.