Students protest as UI begins rationing electricity despite fee hike

Students at the University of Ibadan (UI) in Oyo state have begun a protest over the institution’s decision to ration electricity.

Campus sources told TheCable that the protest began on Tuesday night and continued at 5 am on Wednesday.

It began around UI’s Zik-Indy axis and extended to Awo, with angry students heading towards the residential halls on the school campus.

By daybreak on Wednesday, students shunned lectures, cordoned off the university gate, held placards, and chanted songs.

In April, the UI management implemented a 480% fee hike for newly admitted students.

This meant that up to N412,000 was suddenly payable by new intakes from a former average of N69,600.

A typical fee outlay showed that the new rate accounts for a base fee of N372,000 and N40,000 to be incurred in utility fees.

On July 16, the UI management additionally rolled out a schedule for rationing power supply on its campus.

The university said campus residents would now be limited to a 10-hour maximum electricity supply.

This covers 8 am to 2 pm (six hours) and 10 pm to 2 am (four hours).

However, the students say the decision to ration power supply despite existing concerns about hiked fees has caused them hardship.

In a list of demands seen by TheCable, the protesters asked the management to withdraw the memo on power rationing.

They alleged the victimisation of three students (Aduwo Ayodele, Olamide Gbadegesin, and Nice Linus) subjected to a disciplinary committee for protesting the fee hike on May 13.

The protesters sought a reversal of the already operational fee regime.

In a voice note, Aweda Bolaji Damilola, president of the UI student union, said those who have paid the new rates must be refunded.

TheCable contacted Adejoke Akinpelu, the university’s spokesperson, but she declined to comment.

“We’re still meeting with the students,” she said.

The UI protest comes just after the University of Benin in Edo was shut down as students protested a prolonged power outage.