The University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo State, has disclosed that it has not increased its school fees for returning students as has been speculated, stressing that only those of fresh students were marginally increased.

According to the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Ebunoluwa Adejuyigbe, the institution has made contact with the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to ensure that verified indigent students are included in the programme.

While speaking to newsmen during a pressing briefing, Adejuyigbe emphasised that there is nothing like a 149 per cent increment, stressing that there are courses whose fees are as low as N150,000.

She said, “There are a lot of incorrect narratives in some sections of the media on tuition at UNIMED. We find the incorrect depiction of fees for our programmes by some fifth columnists hiding under the media as an attempt to discredit a rapidly growing institution.
“Let me set the record straight that the university did not increase fees across the board as it is being peddled; we only adjusted the fees of freshers to be able to give them the best in the face of the current economic realities.
“As a transparent institution, our fees are available on the university website for all to see. The fees are competitive compared to other institutions. They are highly subsidised by the government of Ondo State.
“Last year, we verified 87 students whose names we took to NELFUND. I, personally, have been in contact with the head of NELFUND to see why our verified students were not brought into the programme.
“This year, they have approached us again, and we are trying to verify something because we noticed that our fees were increased, which is erroneous because we did not increase the fees recently; they were increased earlier on.”

On the transfer of the Akure complex of the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital to the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), the vice-chancellor maintained that the move will not affect UNIMED.

Adejuyigbe stated that, according to the signed MOU, UNIMED students will have unhindered access to all the facilities and the lecturers at the facility.
“The ceding of the Akure branch of UNIMED Teaching Hospital to FUTA will not adversely affect UNIMED, Ondo. It is a gesture meant to kick-start the medical science programmes at FUTA while the university gets its main teaching hospital ready. I must add that UNIMED, as a rapidly developing medical school, has facilities that can relatively cater for the needs of its students at the Teaching Hospital in Ondo.
“Please note that UNIMED believes that collaboration and cooperation are necessary for a 21st-century university to thrive. So while we maximise the facilities we have in Ondo, we will continue to collaborate with relevant institutions locally and internationally to deliver the best medical and health sciences education.”