Ibadan Poly students protest hike in hostel refusal fee

Students of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, in Oyo State staged a demonstration on Monday, Jan. 9, to protest the hike in hostel refusal fee by the school’s management.

The aggrieved students blocked the school gate and the busy Sango-Poly junction, causing gridlock.

They then marched to the State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan.

Hostel refusal fee is the sum students pay when they are given hostel accommodation but they don’t want to stay in the hostel.

The hostel refusal fee was N5,000 before the management increased it to N15,000.

One of the protesters, Abiodun, said, “We normally pay N30,000 for accommodation every season but for those who don’t want to stay in the hostel, they pay N5,000 refusal fee. But the management just woke up and said that it has increased the refusal fee from N5,000 to N15,000.

“The management also said the hostel fee is compulsory now for all the students, including those who are not staying in the campus (off campus).”

Due to the protest, the management of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Oyo State, has suspended the Students’ Union of the institution and postponed the first-semester examination meant to commence today, Monday, January 9, 2023.

A statement from the institution signed by the Registrar, Mrs Modupe Fawale, disclosed that the examination had been postponed until further notice and the Students’ Union suspended indefinitely.

Describing the protest as ill-motivated and politically inclined, the management claimed the students’ union body had not made a formal complaint to the management concerning the examination slated to commence today.

The Management further noted that the students union breached the rule of decency by locking all the gates that lead to the Institution, thereby causing ”unwarranted hardship to their colleagues, to the staff of the Institution, to their host communities, to the neighbouring university of Ibadan, and to the general public at large, most especially those that have official transactions with The Polytechnic Ibadan.”