The Movement for a Socialist Alternative (MSA), Abuja, condemn in strong terms the expulsion
of Cyprian Igwe, a 400level student who is the Director of Social of the Students’ Union
Government(SUG) and Oladeru Samson Olamilekan, the Director of Sports of the student’s body
of the University of Abuja.
The said expulsion was made following the allegation that the students in question were calling
for a meeting of the students and organising a mass action against the tuition hike on that
campus. 
It is important to note that the management will be increasing the school fees for the third time in
four years after the appointment of Prof. AbdulRasheed Na’ Allah as the Vice Chancellor of the
University, and to us we refer to this hike by the University Authority as undemocratic and
barbaric. 
Before the current VC came into office in 2019, we understood that students pay between
N20,000 to N50,000 as fees, but with the latest increase, students are expected to pay as high as
N250,000, depending on the department they belong. The increase by management is absolutely
unacceptable and unjust to ask students to pay such an outrageous amount. 
This action by the school management is an attempt to commercialise education out of the reach
of students from poor working-class backgrounds. In a country with a minimum wage of
N30,000 and about a 40% unemployment rate, one wonders where the school authority expects
working-class parents to get such an amount.   
In the same way, we salute these students’ courage to have taken the initiative to resist the
astronomical increment in their tuition fees, and we urge the students’ unions not to be
intimidated. 
We in the MSA believe that Nigeria has all it takes to provide students with free and quality
public education at all levels for all its citizens if the country’s resources are democratically
managed and controlled by the working people. 
Aside from the exploitative hike in fees, students in the university also face other precarious
living and study conditions. This includes a series of rigorous checks before being allowed
entrance into the school campus. Also, many students have complained of abuse or assault faced
in the hands of the security operatives on campus. 

We as well demand that probe (a committee to look into all of the reported cases of assault; the
committee should inclusion of the students, members of both Academics and non-academics) of
all issues of assault perpetrated by the university security operatives. 

While the outgone regime of Buhari has failed woefully to fund public education in the country
appropriately, the current Tinubu administration has shown in the last few days not to be
different from the corrupt capitalist programme of its predecessor. We call on all working-class
parents already overburdened by a series of economic attacks of hikes in fuel prices and other
anti-people policies of this regime, the academic and non-academic Staff of the university to
support the students’ struggle for the fee reversal.
The campaign to save public education against the government-planned education
commercialisation loan scheme should be the priority; We demand 

• the reinstatement of the rusticated students of the UNIABUJA campus 
• for improved public education funding in the country,
• the reversal of all the fees hiked and fuel price hikes in the country
• For an independent and democratic Students’ Unionism without interference from the
  university management 
• Democratic running of the university with the involvement of the elected representatives of
  education workers and students in all the decision-making bodies

Daniel, 
Abuja.