By Amaechi Agbo

With the new 2024/2025 Academic Session set to begin in ESUT on October 7, ESUT Monitor takes a look at why the management may increase the school fees of both the returning as well as the postgraduate students of the university. 

A realistic check about the economic trajectory in the country and the increasing hyperinflation that has characterised the nation’s economic frontiers, avers that there are every likelihood that the current status quo with regards to tuition fees in the university may not remain. 

At the commencement of the current session, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Aloysius-Michaels Okolie made it clear that despite the economic hardship experienced in the country and the obvious parameters to effect an upward review, the management would not tamper with the school fees. This, he has kept.

But with the current academic session set to elapse in September, will the management still retain the current school fees status?

ESUT Monitor takes a look at the indices that may make increment extremely ineluctable.

Fuel Subsidy Removal and Inflation

During his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy. This led to instant unrestrained increase in prices of goods and service in the country.

Expectedly, inflation rose to unimaginable level as Nigerians groan under harsh realities of the new economic policy of the new government. As at May 2024, Nigeria’s inflation stood at 33.95% from 33.69% in April of same year, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

This increase of 0.26%-points marks a steady rise in the cost of living, with year-on-year inflation rates jumping by 11.54%-points from 22.41% in May 2023.

According to the report, “In May 2024, the headline inflation rate increased to 33.95% relative to the April 2024 headline inflation rate which was 33.69%. On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.54% points higher compared to the rate recorded in May 2023, which was 22.41%. This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in the month of May 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., May 2023).

“The major contributing items to headline inflation in May 2024 include food and non-alcoholic beverages (contributing 17.59%), housing, water, and electricity. gas and other fuel (contributing 5.68%), and clothing and footwear (contributing 2.60%).”

Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 27.04% on a year-on-year basis in May 2024, up from 19.83% in May 2023.

The most significant contributors to core inflation included rents, passenger transport, and the cost of medical services.

Urban inflation in Nigeria stood at 36.34% on a year-on-year basis in May 2024, a significant increase from the 23.74% recorded in May 2023. This indicates a sustained rise in the cost of living in urban areas over the past year. Majority of ESUT staff reside in the Enugu metropolis.

Whereas the rural communities were not spared of this hyperinflation within the period under consideration, rural inflation in May 2024 was recorded at 31.82% on a year-on-year basis, up from 21.19% in May 2023.

An impeccable source in ESUT told ESUT Monitor that giving the economic realities in the country, school fees increase in the new academic session is unpreventable.

“Well, you know as it is now, the one hundred and twenty-four thousand, nine hundred naira (₦124, 900) being paid by all categories of regular students is not something anybody can use and do anything,” the source who craved anonymity, said. 

“Even federal universities have already increased their school fees. I believe the management is thinking that for the university to be sustained and everything working accordingly, there is a need for an increase in school fees, the source continued.”

The source however noted that the university management does not have the constitutional mandate to hike students’ fees.

 “However, it is still in the pipeline because it is not the management that would do it. The management would do a recommendation to the Governing Council who would take it to the government. It is now the responsibility of the government to decide whether it will be possible or not. But for now, you are aware of the cost of coming here (to ESUT Campus in Agbani from Enugu).

“Even the costs of pure water and electricity have increased. Everything has gone up,” the source maintained.

Cost of management

With epileptic or almost lack of steady electricity supply coupled with the recent hike in tariff in the power sector, the cost of running and maintaining the university system has gone up.

Recently during a function, the Vice-Chancellor disclosed that despite the current increase in fuel price, there is no corresponding adjustment to the budgetary allocation for fuelling to all principal officers of the university. This, he attributed to paucity of fund and described it as part of the sacrifices the management team has to endure in order to push the university forward. 

Promotion of staff to new ranks.  

The current management under the able leadership of the digital VC, Professor Aloysius-Michaels Okolie has witnessed an upsurge in the promotion of staff from one level to the other.

Within the past two years of his administration, the university have had tens of new professors and Readers as well as other staff moving in the upward trajectory. Although this is commendable, however, the reality is that the promotions come with additional cost as the affected staff are expected to have a new salary adjustment on their take-home pay. This, invariably, adds another strain on the finances of the university.

Low Government Subvention

Investigation by ESUT Monitor indicates that the management of the university spends over four hundred million (₦400, 000 000) on staff salaries each month. Out of this sum, the state government subvention takes care less than 55% of the total sum. 

Consequently, the university has been subjected to looking inwards and perhaps, outward to augment her monthly salary packages for staff. This has affected the operations and infrastructural development of the university.

Our source said that as a result of paucity of funds, several infrastructure are left unattended.

“There are so many facilities that students are supposed to access, but because of the paucity of funds, the management have not been able to provide them. For example, there is the cyber infrastructure, which is a well-known digital library that was signed. The contract was signed last year with the intention that we would start it up. Students would have access to any type of book in the world. But because of the paucity of fund, it did not take-off.

“There is no way we can take it up because the students need to pay either a token so that the project can be sustained. So there is a need for an increase in school fees. The increase, if it happens, will only apply to first-year students, not continuing students. That is my thinking, but I may be wrong,” the source stressed.