University of Ibadan Parents Call For Increase in Hostel Fee
As the students of the University of Ibadan continue to disagree over the ban on cooking in the hostels, their parents however called on the management of the University to increase the hostel fee as said, the present fee of N14,000 is rather too cheap. They added that such increase should be minimal.
The parents made this position known during the Parents’ Forum organized by the University on Wednesday to discuss with parents, sponsors and guardians on the challenges facing the University.
The meeting which took place at the Trenchard Hall in the University was well attended and a unanimous decision was reached that in order to tackle the deplorable conditions in the hostels, there is the need to increase accommodation fee. According to these parents, “the hostel fee of N14, 000” is grossly cheap and unrealistic. The parents noted that the Federal government is not providing any subvention for accommodation.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Isaac Adewole with other principal officers of the university was present at the meeting. In his prefatory remarks, the Dean of Student, Prof. Akinola Alada presented the cost structure of students' accommodation in which he informed the parents that a large chunk of the University’s fund is spent on hostel with over N400million expended in the last three years.
One of the parents, Dr. Ade Adenuga called on other parents to support the University in its quest to provide excellent conditions for learning
"I have a daughter in Queen Elizabeth II hall and the condition there is deplorable. The University is trying its best but I urge parents to support anything that will make the university better. If increasing the fee will make our children live as human beings then I support that, but N50, 000 is too much".
Another parent, Engr. Ayodele Adefisayo whose ward is a student in the Faculty of Pharmacy expressed shock that the university accommodation fee per session is N14, 000. "Please let us be realistic, N14, 000 is damn too cheap and unrealistic and we are complaining that our hostels are bad? The university authorities need to be honest and take a stand. I support an increase in the hostel fee and I want the university to be able to accommodate more students.
Another parent, Mrs Tope Oliafa said the university will need to consider students who are sponsoring themselves to the institution and should find a way to reach a fair ground of understanding.
"Whether we like it or not, there are some parents that cannot sponsor their children education easily can we say because they don't have money, their children should not go to school? There are also students who bear the brunt of their education themselves. I agree that N14, 000 is unrealistic considering the economic situation where government is removing subsidy from everything but there must be somewhere these poor students can approach. The increase can be gradual, so that we can carry everyone along".
Other parents thanked the management of the University for widening participation in the University administration through the involvement of parents. The parents also urged the university management to constantly open channels of interactions with the parents. They, however, urged the university authorities to oversee the running of the hostels and should not hand them over to facility managers as it is obtained in other universities.
They also suggested that the university should liaise with private investors to build more hostels.
The VC commended the parents for attending the meeting, saying that more of such meetings would be held regularly. He also said. "We urge you to talk to your children and wards to be patient and they should obey our rules and regulations. Cooking in the hostels is banned and any student found cooking will be expelled from school. Please help us pass this information across to them. We found out that the students' cooking consumes the chunk of the electricity. That is why we have resuscitated the cafeteria system. The university has spent N750million in the last three years subsidizing accommodation for students. We will provide them with cookers in the kitchenettes to do light cooking. That money could have built us two additional hostels. The Federal government has told us to hand off accommodation. So we can't build hostels but we are working with private partners and soon about 1200 rooms will be ready. The parents can also come together to build hostels too and manage them. We have land to give anyone to build. So we are ready to make our students live in the best hostels that can be compared internationally", Prof. Adewole said.

The highlight of the meeting was the unanimous decision to set up an interim executive council for the Forum with Dr. Ade Adenuga emerging as Chairman, Mrs. Ayodele O Womiloju as Secretary and Engr. Ayodele Adefisayo, Treasurer.