NAUTH Suspends ₦580,000 Nursing Tuition Fee After Student Protest
By Momodu Favour
The management of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi in Anambra State, has suspended the implementation of a newly introduced ₦580,000 tuition fee for nursing students following protests by students of the institution.
The decision was announced on Thursday by the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Joseph Ugboaja, during an appearance on The Morning Brief on Channels Television.
The suspension came after nursing students staged protests over the sharp increase in tuition fees from ₦90,000 to ₦580,000, a development that sparked widespread outrage within the institution.
Ugboaja explained that the management decided to halt the implementation of the new fee after a series of meetings involving student representatives, the school management and the institution’s governing board.
According to him, the major grievance raised by the students was that they were not adequately involved in the final decision-making process that led to the fee adjustment.
“What the students complained about was that they were not carried along at the final decision-making for the fees. They know that there was a review and their opinion was sought, but at the level of taking decision, they said they were not carried along,” he said.
He disclosed that the hospital management had agreed to suspend the policy to allow further consultations with the students and other stakeholders.
“I had a meeting with them, I had a session with the school management, I also had a session with the board and we have decided that the management will suspend the implementation of the new policy.
“We have stopped it and then the committee is now going back to them to have a session with the students and all of them will come together and agree on the way forward,” he added.
Ugboaja noted that the protest was not organised by the official student leadership but was largely driven by widespread concerns among the nursing students over the sudden increase in fees.
Despite the suspension, the CMD defended the proposed tuition fee, stating that the ₦580,000 charge remained the lowest among nursing training institutions in the South-East region.
He explained that the review became necessary following the transition from the traditional Registered Nurse/Registered Midwife (RN/RM) programme to the National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) structure introduced by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria.
According to him, students previously paying ₦90,000 were those enrolled in the basic nursing and midwifery programmes, while those admitted into the ND and HND programmes had already paid the revised fees without raising objections.
“People that were paying the ₦90,000 are the basic nursing and midwifery students. But the ND and HND students have paid the fees and they don’t have issues. The people that have issues are those who have been paying the ₦90,000,” he explained.
Ugboaja also noted that the fees for the basic nursing programme had remained unchanged since the establishment of the school, making the review necessary in light of current economic realities.
He further lamented that teaching hospitals do not benefit from intervention funds from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), a situation he said contributes to financial challenges faced by such institutions.
According to him, the fee adjustment is part of a broader plan by NAUTH to improve infrastructure and academic standards as the hospital seeks to position itself among the top three teaching hospitals in Nigeria by the year 2030.
