Academics, students reeling from spiralling fuel cost

Academic staff and students in Nigeria are feeling the impact of the recent hike in the pump price of petrol as the cost of living in an already inflated economy continues spiralling with some institutions even introducing hybrid teaching to cushion travel expenses for students and staff.

Rumblings of labour action have also subsequently emerged but have been quelled – for now.

The fuel price shot up by about 300% from NGN185-NGN195 (US$0.40-US$0.42) per litre to NGN488-NGN550 (US$1.06-US$1.19) per litre shortly after Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared in his inaugural speech on 29 May, 2023 that the “[fuel] subsidy is gone”.

The government has been subsidising the product for years at a cost of NGN400 billion monthly, but said the scheme was no longer sustainable due to dwindling revenues and rising national debts which hit almost NGN77 trillion in May.

In 2022, 80.6% of the government revenues were said to have gone into debt servicing while 60% would be committed to the same goal this year, according to the immediate past minister of finance, Zainab Ahmed. The International Monetary Fund had also warned that Nigeria might spend almost 100% of its revenue on debt servicing by 2026.

The subsidy was removed on these grounds. But, less than two weeks into the new fuel price regime, many Nigerians, including academics and students, are lamenting as costs of transportation, food and other basic necessities are rising.

“It [fuel price hike] is biting harder,” a lecturer at the Kwara State University (KWASU), Dr Ibrahim Omolabi, told University World News.

“I normally fuel my car with 28 litres of petrol every week for NGN5,500. It [28 litres] now [costs] NGN14,420 each week, which means I will spend NGN57,680 in a month. How much is my salary? I can’t afford to fill up the fuel tank of my car any longer. Also, the prices of food and other basic needs have increased as a result of the hike in fuel price. It is really a tough time,” he said.

Labour unions threaten strike

The Nigeria Labour Congress mobilised all its affiliate unions, including the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics and the Nigeria Union of Teachers, for a nationwide strike on Wednesday, 7 June, in protest against the fuel hike.

But an industrial court in Abuja, the federal capital, on Monday restricted the union from embarking on the planned strike following an ex parte application by the office of the attorney general of the federation and the minister of justice.

The labour unions consequently agreed to shelve the strike after a meeting with the president, who promised to increase the NGN30,000 (US$64.7) national minimum wage to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal.

University activates hybrid lectures

The KWASU management in a 2 June memo by the university’s registrar, Dr Kikelomo Sallee, addressed to all academic staff, said the hybrid mode of teaching for all courses would be adopted till further notice “against the backdrop of the transportation challenges occasioned by the recent hike in the pump price of fuel”.

“This means that lectures will be conducted both physically and online. However, lecturers are implored to give physical lectures priority and deploy any convenient online platform for the virtual teaching.

“Be informed that the Lecture Monitoring Committee will be monitoring compliance by both the lecturers and students alike for quality assurance. While thanking you for your understanding, the management wishes to assure you of maximum support at all times,” the memo stated.

Students face living crisis

Several students who spoke to University World News complained that they spend more to feed themselves, while transport fares on and off campuses have almost doubled.

A student at the University of Lagos, Tunji Adeyemi, now spends NGN1,000 on transportation from his off-campus residence to the school and back home, up from NGN600 every day.

“My weekly budget for transportation to and from campus has jumped to NGN5,000 from NGN3,000. I also spend at least 40% above my usual budget on food and it will surely increase in the coming days as markets continue to react to the impact of the new fuel price,” he said.

Yusuf Ismail, a student at the University of Maiduguri, who shares a similar experience to that of Adeyemi, said he has resorted to trekking some distances to reduce the burden of the high cost of transportation.

“Many food vendors on the campus have also reduced the quantity of food they [used] sell to students for a particular price in response to the effect of the surge in the petrol price,” he added.

.University World News