Emmanuel Dada Abiodun
Open Letter to His Excellency, Governor Seyi Makinde.
Your Excellency,
Your excellency, kindly permit us to use this medium to commend your laudable efforts in making Oyo State live up to its position again as the Pace Setter. We are happy to see how you have given Oyo State facelift. The biting reality of the pandemic that caught the world unprepared, I must commend your Excellency on a job well done so far in preventing and fighting to a stand still the COVID-19.
May God continue to increase your wisdom to direct the affairs of this great state to a greater height and may you not derail from God’s plan in fulfilling all His purpose through you in Oyo State and in Nigeria as a whole.
I humbly implore your excellency to please read with an open mind the following paragraphs as they underscore the main reasons for writing this letter to you. Out of deep constraint, we are writing this letter to draw your attention to the arbitrary high fees being charged on students by the management of The Polytechnic, Ibadan for the collection of their original certificates after graduating from the school.
It needs to be stated that charging students fees for collection of their certificates is not altogether out of place, so long as they are minimal and affordable. It would be recalled that we were asked to be paying ₦10,000 for collection of certificate but not until 2017, when the fees went up hitting the sky roof. While I understand the numerous tasks before your Excellency, it is of utmost necessity to call your attention to this one too.
Your excellency, This exploitative tendency in the school management neither starts nor stops with collection of certificate fees alone; they also have a long list of sundry charges ranging from registration fee, acceptance fee, school fee, departmental fee, faculty fee, medical fee, examination fee, clearance fee, Alumni fee, convocation fee, statement of results fee, among many others ranging from N120, 000 to N150, 000 that we had all paid for before graduating from the school.
Amid rising frustration over the exorbitant fees, indigent and unemployed students who are being forced to pay the fees are bemoaning this unusual development, especially, against the backdrop that the current ugly situation in the country that has left many of us after leaving school to engage in menial jobs with salary ranging from ₦17,000 to ₦ 25,000. It is inconceivable in this our current situation to think that every graduate after leaving school for over 4 years struggling without a job can cough out about ₦49,500 to ₦60,000 before they can be issued their both ND and HND certificates. Many of us are unemployed and poor and only a miracle like waking up Lazarus from dead and turning water to wine can bring out such whopping amount of money from our low income jobs.
After our poor parents had struggled so hard to see us through our education to the level of graduating from school, It is however sad that in the heat of this pandemic, unemployment and poverty in its attendance, they are still presented with yet, another financial challenge as most parents can’t afford to pay that amount levelled by the management for the collection of certificate and this is due to the economic situation that has affected a large segment of the people in the country.
Your excellency, we are happy to see how your good work and many great achievements have been trailing you since the time you have assumed office as the Governor of Oyo State but there are also other issues like the foregoings that also need your urgent attention. Sir, we will need your Excellency to prevail over this situation hence, the collection of certificate fees should be reduced.
Distinguished Governor, we will be glad if all the foregoings are given proper consideration for the best interest of the graduating students of The Polytechnic, Ibadan and our parents who live from hand to mouth.
Yours faithfully,
Emmanuel Abiodun Dada
