Unizik Teaching Hospital Bows To Pressure, Suspends ₦580,000 Fee For Nursing students
The management of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) has halted the implementation of the newly introduced ₦580,000 tuition fee for nursing students following protests by students of the institution.
The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof. Joseph Ugboaja, announced the decision during an appearance on Channels TV’s The Morning Brief programme on Thursday.
According to Prof. Ugboaja, the decision to suspend the new fee followed meetings with student leaders, the school management and the governing board after the protest.
“What the students complained was that they were not carried along at the final decision making for the fees. They know that there was a review, their opinion was sorted, but at the level of taking decision they said there were not carried along.
“So, I had a meeting with them, I had a session with the school management, I also had a session with the board and we have decided that the management will suspend the implementation of the new policy. So, we have stopped it and then the committee is now going back to them to have a session with the students and all of them will come together and agree on the way forward,” he said.
He noted that the protest was not initiated by the student leaders but was largely driven by concerns that students were not properly involved in the final decision-making process regarding the fee review.
Despite the suspension, Prof. Ugboaja defended the proposed fee, maintaining that the ₦580,000 tuition remains the lowest in the South-East region.
He explained that the review became necessary following the transition from the basic nursing programme to a National Diploma and Higher National Diploma structure.
The fee hike had sparked outrage in recent days after nursing students protested a 500 per cent increase in tuition fees from ₦90,000 to ₦580,000.
