 |
| Ahmadu Bello University — Zaria |
Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria—one of Nigeria’s oldest and largest federal universities—briefly approved a steep upward review of undergraduate registration charges for the 2026/2027 academic session, only to suspend the new rates days later after intense student pushback. The episode lays bare the deepening financial strains on public higher education, the limits of government funding, the mixed role of student loans, and the difficult trade-offs between affordability and institutional sustainability in an economy still reeling from inflation, currency pressures, and rising operational costs.
The Governing Council of ABU approved the revised charges at its 218th Special Meeting on September 29, 2026, following a Senate resolution from its 565th Regular Meeting on September 24 and what the university described as consultations with stakeholders. The new schedule, published in a special bulletin around early October, would have required Nigerian undergraduates to pay between ₦143,000 and ₦298,000 depending on programme, level of study, and faculty—roughly two to three times (and in some cases nearly four times) the previous range of about ₦62,000 to ₦84,000.
RECOMMENDED
Professional, medical, and science-based programmes saw the steepest jumps. Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) 100-level students would have paid ₦242,000 (up from around ₦82,000), with higher levels reaching ₦298,000 at 600 level. Dentistry followed a similar trajectory (₦242,000 at 100 level).
Veterinary Medicine rose to ₦232,000 at entry level, Nursing Science, Medical Laboratory Science, and Medical Radiography to ₦212,000, major Engineering programmes and Computer Science to ₦172,000, Law to ₦182,000, and programmes such as Accounting, Economics, and Public Administration to ₦152,000. Returning students across faculties faced corresponding increases, with some Allied Health and clinical programmes ranging higher still depending on year of study. Different (substantially higher) rates applied to non-resident Nigerians and international students.
The university framed the review as a response to a widening gap between available resources and the rising cost of essential services—utilities, campus security, transportation, laboratory materials, maintenance, student welfare, and general operations. Management specifically cited the financial pressure compounded by the loss of nearly ₦2.5 billion following a court ruling (references point to garnishment of university accounts, including third-party and TETFund-related funds, with earlier public statements by the Vice-Chancellor highlighting the operational impact of such freezes). The revised charges were presented as necessary to sustain and improve critical facilities and services.
Student reaction was swift and sharp. Social media filled with frustration from ABU students, many of whom recalled earlier, much lower fees. One student, Bisallah Abuhaneefah, called the increase “excessive” and “outrageous,” noting that the same institution had recently charged as little as ₦31,500 in tuition and lamenting that “there’s no education for the common man anymore.” A Medicine student, Gbadebo Adesiyan, criticised both the scale (around 300% in some cases) and the timing amid broader economic hardship, arguing that those responsible were undermining efforts to ease living costs for ordinary families.
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) pushed back firmly. President Akinteye Babatunde Afeez rejected “arbitrary” increases, arguing that the burden of financing public universities should not be shifted onto students and their families. While expressing support for the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND)—noting that no student should be denied access simply because parents cannot immediately pay—he stressed that NELFUND is a loan, not a grant.
Beneficiaries must eventually repay it after graduation and employment. Supporting the scheme, he said, does not mean endorsing every fee hike; it should not become a licence for continuous upward reviews. Afeez called for greater transparency: How much does the Federal Government currently allocate to ABU? How much does the university generate internally? What is the actual cost of running the institution, and what percentage is already covered by subvention? What services will students receive in return? He urged that any necessary adjustments follow genuine engagement rather than unilateral decisions.
Political voices joined the criticism. The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) described the hike as deepening hardship for working-class families already squeezed by rising living costs, linking it to broader “anti-people” policies under the current administration.
Then, on October 8, 2026, ABU management announced the suspension of the revised charges. In a Special Bulletin, the university said it had carefully considered submissions from the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) and found the concerns legitimate, responsible, and deserving of further consideration. The suspension allows wider consultations and additional input from the student body and other stakeholders. Management framed the move as consistent with its commitment to dialogue, mutual respect, and responsible governance, while reiterating the underlying financial realities and the need for sustainable resources to maintain a conducive environment for teaching, learning, and research. Students were urged to continue academic activities pending further communication. NANS welcomed the suspension as a victory for consultation.
This sequence is not isolated. It echoes the wave of fee reviews that followed the prolonged 2022 ASUU industrial action, when many federal universities raised charges citing rising operational costs, infrastructure needs, and teaching materials.
Protests erupted then too; some increases were moderated, others largely stood. Broader funding pressures have intensified. A Federal Government directive earlier in 2026 requiring public universities to fund certain lecturers’ allowances through internally generated revenue (IGR) heightened fears that institutions would turn to higher student charges to close gaps. Former LASU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello has argued publicly that quality education requires substantial resources and that universities seeking greater financial independence might need to charge figures in the region of ₦1 million per student annually—comments that themselves sparked debate and clarification from student groups.
Other federal universities contacted around the time of the ABU announcement signalled no immediate plans to follow suit. Bayero University Kano (BUK) stated it had not increased fees and was already in the second semester of its current session. The University of Abuja (Yakubu Gowon University) said it had no plans to hike tuition. The University of Benin reported no increase for the new session, and the University of Jos indicated it had received no formal or informal communication from the National Universities Commission about a proposed system-wide rise. These denials suggest the ABU move was institution-specific rather than a coordinated national policy—at least for now—yet they do little to ease systemic anxiety.
At root lies a structural problem. Nigerian public universities operate under chronic underfunding relative to needs and international benchmarks.
Personnel costs, utilities (exacerbated by unreliable power and high diesel prices), laboratory consumables, maintenance of ageing infrastructure, security, and research all compete for limited subventions and IGR. Inflation and naira volatility have eroded purchasing power. Legal setbacks and delayed releases compound cash-flow problems.
Student loans via NELFUND offer a partial bridge for individual access, but they do not solve the underlying shortfall in institutional funding; they transfer future repayment obligations to graduates entering an uncertain job market. Relying on them as cover for repeated fee increases risks turning a safety net into an enabler of cost-shifting.
RELATED
The ABU episode illustrates both the pressure and the political limits of rapid, steep hikes. Universities need more resources to deliver quality education; students and families, many already struggling with food, transport, and accommodation costs, cannot absorb sudden multi-fold increases without risk of exclusion or heavier debt. Sustainable paths likely require a combination of more predictable and adequate government funding, greater efficiency and transparency in university spending, diversified legitimate IGR (research commercialisation, partnerships, targeted services), and carefully calibrated, consultative adjustments to student charges that protect the most vulnerable.
For now, the revised ABU charges remain suspended pending further talks. The outcome of those consultations, and whether other institutions quietly prepare similar reviews, will signal how Nigeria’s public university system navigates the tension between fiscal reality and the long-standing ideal of accessible higher education. Students, parents, university managers, and policymakers all have a stake in finding answers that do not simply pass the bill down the line.
Samuel O. Sulaimon is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Naijapiz. He covers News, Sports, Finance, Faiths, Education, Technology.
Post a Comment