Ekiti Varsity Students Protest Hike in ICT Charges
There was a crisis at the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti on Monday, as students protested the outrageous charges for wireless internet connection by the management of the institution.
At dawn, the students had converged on the only entrance of the institution and locked the main gate to prevent students and staff from gaining entry.
They paraded placards with inscriptions like ‘Enough is
Enough, we do not Need Wireless Internet Connection in the University’; ‘We Don’t Need Your Internet Connections Anymore’; ‘We are not Ready to Pay Heavy Charges Anymore, among others.
Some of the students, who spoke with journalists, accused the management of exploitation, saying that all students were charged N13,500 for wireless internet connection for two semesters, which most students do not subscribe to.
They alleged that the management did not consider the current economic challenges facing them and especially their parents, who are civil servants and are being owed several months of arrears of salaries.
One of them, Anjorin Kemisola said she regrets being a student of the university because since she gained admission, the tuition fees have been going up without any consideration of the plight of their parents by the management.
“I wish to say that am not happy with the way the management of the university is charging us, our tuition fees have always been going up, departmental fees are exorbitant; presently we are being charged for wireless internet connection that we do not use at all. I regret coming to this university.”
Another student, Ogundipe Gbenga said they decided to embark on the peaceful protest to inform the management that they can no longer pay for internet connection that is not useful to them.
He said most times, the internet connection is not always available for them to use and they prefer to subscribe to internet services from telecommunication outfits such as MTN, Glo, Airtel, among others.
He alleged that the staff are the ones enjoying the internet connections. “Most of them will put off the data on their phones and link up with the school internet to be watching or downloading films.
“Most of us use phones with various communication data, so we don’t use the school internet because it is not useful to us. We therefore want to appeal to the management to remove the wireless internet connection from the school charges because it is not convenient for us and our parents.”
The Deputy Registrar, Information and Corporate Affairs, Mr. Ajibade Olubunmi told THISDAY on telephone that he was not aware of the protest.
“I am not aware of any protest on this campus because when I was coming to work, I did not see anyone protesting individually or in group or groups protesting, but I will investigate and get back to you.”