Rivers State Governor and Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has reversed the school fees payment structure at the state-owned Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST).
The Governor directed that from now on students of the university would pay the same amount for tuition whether they are indigenes of Rivers State or not.
Amaechi announced the payment reversal when he visited RSUST on Monday for an interactive session with students of the university; and sensitize them on voters’ registration and collection of permanent voter’s cards which is scheduled to commence on Friday.
Responding to the students’ questions and concerns which included the discrimination in school fees among indigenes and non-indigenes, Governor Amaechi directed the school management to ensure that all students of the university pay the same amount of fees.
“Anybody in Rivers State University of Science and Technology is an indigene. All of us are Nigerians”, he said, and directed the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. George Feyii to prepare a letter to the state university to that effect.
“The reason why I made that statement and I am going to back it up with a letter is that we are all Nigerians. So, from today, no more discrimination in school fees,” Amaechi stated.
He enjoined the school authority to allow students register their courses and pay later for those whose fees are not readily available at the time of registration, in order not to deprive them of studying with their classmates.
He said, “My personal view is, because of the current economic situation, any student who has money to pay (for school fees), let him pay. The ones that don’t have money yet, let them register, and during exams, you collect your money. The reason is that 60 to 70 per cent of you (the students) are from very poor backgrounds. My father was a retiree when I got into the university. I didn’t have money but school fees was very cheap”.
He also called on the school management to grant freedom to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to exercise their democratic rights in the university.
“Allow ASUU, let the lecturers form their ASUU. I will direct the Commissioner for Education to write to the university to allow the lecturers congregate and form their union. The law allows them to do so. That is democracy,” Amaechi said.
Governor Amaechi also used the opportunity to appeal to the students to be part of INEC’s forthcoming Permanent Voters Card (PVC) collection and fresh voters registration exercise to enable them exercise their civic right in next year’s elections.
“I am aware that from Friday, we would start collecting what they call the permanent voter’s card. I am aware that after the collection of permanent voter’s card, they would start fresh registration of voters. That’s part of what brought me (to your university).
“I have come to say to those who are sixteen, don’t go and vote but those who are up to eighteen, go and vote; but to vote, you must first and foremost, go to collect your permanent voter’s card. If you don’t have a permanent voter’s card, then you need to go and register as they start registration,” he said.
The governor explained that he parted ways with the ruling PDP because the PDP-led federal government failed to address the challenges facing Rivers State.
“Now, the reason why there is a disagreement between us and the federal government is one question we have always been asking in public – can a federal government led by our own brother who comes from Bayelsa, can they show us one project that they have done in Rivers State? And I said again to the federal government, if you can’t show us one, show us half, that is, the one you started and you abandoned and you forgot it; none, and Rivers State gave our President the highest vote in the country, 1.8million votes.”
If nothing else, repair our airport. What have we done against the President that an airport they started the same time with Abuja, with Lagos, with Enugu. They have finished Lagos, they have finished Abuja, they have finished Enugu, our own is abandoned, what did we do?
“Our oil well in the Kalabari area, they have taken, so the basic quarrel is that the federal government is not addressing our problems. So, we said to the federal government, if you have not done those projects and you have done nothing for Rivers State, why do we need to remain in PDP and work with the federal government, so we left PDP and joined APC.”
“We joined APC because we need to get back our oil wells. So, one thing you owe us is to go and collect your card. When you collect your card, you must help us do one thing – don’t vote for PDP,” Amaechi said.
The governor noted that his administration has positively affected the lives of Rivers people in different sectors. He said he was impressed with improvements recorded in the institution and recalled efforts made by his administration to accredit all courses offered by the university.
“By the time I became governor, sixty to seventy per cent of your departments and courses and faculties were not accredited and I said it is either we are ready for a university or we are not ready for a university. If we are not ready for a university, we close down, but if we need to educate our children, we need to educate our children. It means that whatever is the requirement for accreditation in the university, government must meet it and we met it. They came here, they inspected, they confirmed that we have met it”.
Earlier, Vice Chancellor of RSUST, Prof. B. B. Fakae welcomed the governor on his sensitization visit to the university which he described as one of the country’s foremost in ICT. Press Unit Government House, PH. November 25, 2014
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