“We Are Dying Under Alarming School Fees” – Parents Lament As Ondo Medical University Hikes Fees To ₦2.6million

Parents and guardians of newly admitted students at the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo town, Ondo State, have raised the alarm over what they described as “astronomical increase” in school fees, begging Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to intervene before their children are forced out of school.

In a statement titled “Astronomical Increase Of School Fees At University Of Medical Sciences, Ondo City, Ondo State: Save Our Souls (SOS) To Mr. Governor”, the parents accused the institution of compounding the economic hardship of families already struggling to feed.

According to them, tuition for courses like Medicine and Surgery as well as Dentistry, which stood at ₦1,683,500 for indigene students in the 2024/2025 session, has now been raised to ₦2,000,000 for the new 2025/2026 session. Non-indigenes who previously paid ₦2,245,000 will now cough out ₦2,600,000.

The parents noted that the hike excludes other compulsory charges such as ₦20,000 for Post-UTME form and ₦100,000 as acceptance fee.

They lamented: “No doubt, all the above amounts, paid up to the close of the 2024/2025 academic session, had already been considered too high by parents and the general public, let alone these new increases!”

“Most parents and guardians who had children and wards in the institution up to the end of the 2024/2025 academic year were paying through their noses, borrowing money everywhere, even with the opportunity of paying the fees in two instalments of 60% and 40%.”

The aggrieved parents said the latest increment would push many students out of school as families are already “dying, sapped and economically fatigued” by Nigeria’s worsening economy.

They appealed to Governor Aiyedatiwa and civil society groups to intervene immediately: “We are calling on our amiable Governor and all well-meaning individuals and organisations to please help us weigh in on the authorities and management of UNIMED not only to reverse the new increases in the school fees, but to also drastically reduce and lower the old school fees paid up to the end of the 2024/2025 academic session, so that our children and wards would not drop out of school."

“We trust that our Executive Governor, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, would help us out by intervening immediately, so that we would not die paying our children’s school fees at UNIMED.”  

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