12th March, 2015
Harrison Iyoha
Imo State Polytechnic, Imo State is in crisis as the students and the school Rector, Rev. Fr. Wence Madu, are in disagreement over the N20,000 Acceptance Fees the students were asked to pay.
Reports have it that the Management of the institution may be forced to shut down the school over the students’ insistence that they will not pay the said amount.
The Rector, P.M.NEWS Campus Square gathered, reportedly fled from the school to avoid being attacked when the students came calling at his office to explain the reason behind the N20,000 as acceptance fee and another N5,000 fee for those that gained admission into the school without taking the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
According to the protesting students, the declaration of total free education in the state implies that no Imo indigene should pay school fees but that is not what obtains in IMOPOLY.
Students of the institution told our correspondent that the Rector was booed and lambasted by the students when he attempted to deny knowledge of the levies.
Fr. Madu’s claims that he had no knowledge of the payments angered the students, who queried the quality of the Rector’s leadership if he had no knowledge of fees being collected from his students.
The students are now calling on the state government to review Rev. Fr. Madu’s ability to handle the school’s affair.
Nwobasi Chioma, a student of the school said: “the rector is economical with the truth. How can he pretend not to know anything about the N20,000 when he is the rector of the school? Every decision taken comes directly from his office and he is lying to us that he is not the one who came up with this.
“We are watching and waiting for him.”
Another student of the institution simply identified as Anayo, berated the school management for not having them in mind before coming up with what he described as “crazy increment”.
“Why is it that when these people are comfortable, they always come up with policies that will make the poor uncomfortable and unhappy? We shall not fold our hands and watch these wicked people send us away from this school,” he said.