FACT CHECK: Did UI Senate agree on 17k as payment for accommodation fee?

By: Fasilat Rauf

A report titled “Full Details of the Senate Meeting on Physical Resumption, School Fees and Others” made by a student-owned blog with the name Campus News made rounds on whats pp groups yesterday, May 17th immediately after the Senate meeting held at the UI Trenchard Hall.

The report claimed that the University’s Senate passed that hostels should be opened in preparation for resumption of physical classes with a purported fee of N17,000 turns out to be untrue after deeper scrutiny. 

The reports also raised claims on proposed date for resumption, amount payable for accommodation, allocation of hostels to freshmen and other issues discussed on the floor of the Senate. 

The paragraph that relates to amount payable for accommodation reads as follows “the Halls of residence are expected to be opened from 22nd of May, 2021 with a purported fee of #17,000(sic) which is expected to cover the rest of this semester and the next semester…” 

It should be noted that since the Senate meeting came to an end UI management is yet to make an official statement concerning the amount that would be paid as accommodation fee for the remaining part of the 2020/2021 academic session. 

In a WhatsApp chat with the Student’s Union President, Akeju Olusegun, he stated that the amount agreed on by the Senate as accommodation fee is N30,000. He further explained that the management stated that the hall will only be made available to 50% of the usual population due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In a nutshell, he said the university believes it is more beneficial to keep the hostels under lock rather than provide accommodation to students since school authority will get less in return compared to the amount that is needed to keep the hostels in good condition. 

In order to verify the veracity of the claims made by Campus News, UCJUI contacted the Dean of Students, Prof. Keye Abiona, who said that the university will release a newsletter stating the outcome of the meeting. He advised that students should await the bulletin due to reasons best known to him.