Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has faulted the hike in fee of public universities.

The Policy and Research Officer, Zikora Ibeh, told The Guardian, yesterday, that the development was not just a ‘knife’ on the back of struggling students and families, but also an assault on the fundamental right to education, as enshrined in the Constitution.

Citing University of Lagos (UNILAG), University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) and Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), among others that had perfected the action, the group regretted that the move persists in contravention to orders of President Bola Tinubu and the Ministry of Education to public tertiary institutions against imposing additional financial stress on students.

The Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said: “These astronomical fee increases have wrought devastating consequences already, with countless students being pushed out of the system, forced to watch their dreams crumble or resort to back-breaking, often perilous and mentally-draining menial jobs to keep their academic hopes on life support.”

“At a time Nigerians are still grappling with the debilitating shockwaves of fuel subsidy removal, a policy shift that has engendered hyper inflation, it is nothing short of grotesque insensitivity for public universities in the country to further compound the woes of the poor with exorbitant school fees.”

To worsen the matter, he said government had allegedly failed to fulfil its commitment to better the lot of impoverished Nigerian workers.

“The minimum wage remains a pittance, yet to be increased despite repeated promises from state authorities. This sad situation has further worsened the hardship of austerities and soaring living costs. To then expect already battered Nigerians to make additional sacrifices for their children’s education is to rub salt on an open wound,” Oluwafemi added.

CAPPA equally decried the ‘commercialisation’ of tertiary education, insisting that the fee hike failed to translate into tangible improvements.

“Students continue to navigate decayed lecture halls and living quarters, as well as inadequate academic infrastructure, consequently facing a steady decline in the quality of their academic experiences,” it observed.

The organisation described as warped narrative the excuses of university authorities that the increases were inevitable in the face of prevailing economic realities.