The Federal University of Technology, Owerri, has taken the decision to impose a reparation fee of N20,000 on each of its 2012/2022 graduates due to alleged property damage during their graduation celebrations.
This action was among the resolutions made during the 495th meeting of the university’s senate, which convened on Thursday, August 31, 2023.
According to a statement signed by the Registrar/Secretary to the Senate, Mr. Chiadozie Uba, the university’s administration also decided to impose a one-academic-session rustication on the identified ringleaders and key participants in the incident.
The statement from Mr. Uba read, “The Senate considered the submission from the Committee of Deans on the senseless celebration involving wanton destruction of University properties by graduating students, and the above-reached decisions of the Senate are for necessary action, please.”
However, this decision has sparked tension on campus, with students expressing their dissatisfaction with the management’s swift punitive measures, which they believe were imposed without proper consideration of the circumstances.
One of the 2012/2022 graduates, who requested anonymity, appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Hope Uzodinma to intervene in their situation.
The graduate asserted, “I am certain that none of us in this graduating class engaged in such actions. I recall that prior to our exams, the school issued a memo prohibiting such celebrations, and we adhered to it.”
“This decision to levy a fee feels like an indirect way for the school management to extract money from us,” the graduate added.
