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 the fees for 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.

Adejuyigbe, while speaking during a media briefing, emphasised that there is no 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 records straight that the university did not increase fees across the board as 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’s website for all to see. The fees are competitive compared to other institutions. They are highly subsidised by the government of Ondo State.”

The VC, while speaking on the transfer of the Akure complex of the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital to the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), maintained that the move would not affect UNIMED.

Adejuyigbe said that, according to the signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), UNIMED students would have unhindered access to all 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 prepares its main teaching hospital. 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,” she said.

“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,” the VC further said.