A social media post by the account foluadig has highlighted the dramatic increase in University of Lagos undergraduate fees, from sixteen thousand naira in 2019 to approximately three hundred thousand naira or more currently, and called on Nigerians to get their Permanent Voter Cards and vote in response to the increase.
The post, which has garnered over sixteen thousand likes and thousands of replies, frames the fee hike as a political issue rather than just an administrative or financial one, arguing that the solution to rising costs in education, and by extension in other areas of life, is to vote out the governments and politicians responsible for policies that have made university education unaffordable for the majority of Nigerian families.
The fee increase at UNILAG is not an isolated case. Universities across Nigeria, both federal and state, have implemented major fee hikes in recent sessions, moving from the heavily subsidised levels that prevailed before 2020 to figures that reflect the rising costs of operations, the removal of subsidies, inflation, naira devaluation, and the withdrawal of government funding that previously kept tuition low.
For UNILAG, fees that were under twenty thousand naira for most students before 2020 have climbed to one hundred and ninety thousand naira or more depending on the programme, with some faculties and levels reporting totals that approach or exceed three hundred thousand naira when all obligatory charges are included.
The increase represents a barrier to access that is generational in its impact. Students whose parents were able to afford university education on modest incomes are now finding that their own children cannot attend the same institutions without taking loans, working multiple jobs, or dropping out due to inability to pay.
The rise from sixteen thousand to three hundred thousand naira is not just a number. It is the difference between university being accessible to the middle class and lower-middle class and university becoming a privilege reserved for the wealthy or those willing to take on debt that will shape their financial futures for decades…See More
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