OAU students protest N15,000 portal fee, union advises against payment

The Great Ife Students’ Union has advised students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, to suspend payment of the N15,000 e-portal access charge pending further clarification on the fee.

The union gave the advisory on Monday in a statement signed by its President, Olalekan Kujembola; Secretary-General, AbdulRoheem Arogundade; and Public Relations Officer, Isaac Oluwagbami, amid concerns over the charge.

The development followed a clarification by the university’s Division of Student Affairs, which described the portal access charge as an existing component of the sundry charges paid by students over the years.

The union said it recognised the importance of a functional and secure electronic portal to the university’s academic and administrative operations but insisted that students’ access to the platform should not become an additional source of financial pressure.

It consequently urged students to refrain from making the payment for the time being, pending further clarification and developments on the matter.

The statement read, “In view of the concerns surrounding the charge and its implications for students’ access to essential university services, students are hereby advised to refrain from making the N15,000 E-Portal Access payment for the time being, pending further clarification and necessary developments on the matter.”

The union said the advisory was informed by the need to ensure that decisions concerning essential student services took adequate consideration of affordability, accessibility and the collective interests of students.

It noted that the university’s e-portal was not an optional digital service but an indispensable platform for several academic activities.

“It is important to emphasise that the University’s e-portal is not merely an optional digital service. It is an indispensable platform through which students undertake critical activities, including school fee payment, course registration, hostel accommodation balloting and other academic processes,” the statement added.

The union said any financial arrangement attached to access to the platform required careful consideration to prevent students from being disadvantaged.

It also urged students to remain calm and avoid spreading unverified reports while awaiting further communication from the union.

“We therefore urge all students to remain calm, exercise patience and rely on official communications from the Union for further updates. Students are also advised against making decisions based on unverified information or circulating reports,” it said.

However, in a separate statement on Monday the Dean of the Division of Student Affairs, Prof. J. A. Odedire, said the N15,000 charge was not a new levy but an increase in an existing payment from N6,000.

Odedire explained that the university administration increased the fee to strengthen the security of its electronic portal and reduce the risk of students’ data being compromised.

“The Portal access charge has always been one of the line items of the sundry charges being paid by students over the years. It is not a new charge!” he said.

According to him, the university decided to host the portal in one of the most secure data storage environments to improve its protection.

“In order to ensure a more secure environment for the university e-portal and to reduce the chances of data compromise, the University Administration took the decision to warehouse the portal in one of the most secure environments in the world of data storage, which necessitated a moderate increase of the portal access charge from the previous N6,000 to N15,000,” the statement read.

The dean further explained that the new arrangement required a separate payment gateway, different from the Remita electronic payment platform traditionally used by the university.

He said this was why the portal access charge was now being paid separately from other items listed under the sundry charges.

Odedire also assured students, particularly those from financially disadvantaged backgrounds, that the university would not introduce policies capable of obstructing their education.

“The University Administration is very mindful of the financial ability of some indigent ones among the generality of our students and will not create any condition that will disenfranchise such categories of students in achieving their academic pursuit and dreams,” he added.