Stop Asking Us To Pay N10, 000 For Tax Clearance Certificates, We’re Not Ready For Exams, Poly Students Storm Protests
Some students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Ogun State, have protested against the semester examination organised by the institution, stating that they are not ready to take the exams.
A video obtained by SaharaReporters captured the students holding placards with different boldly written captions including ‘We are not ready’ and ‘Give us time!’.
Speaking with SaharaReporters on Thursday, a student of the institution, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the protesting students are those in National Diploma 2 level who have not obtained their examination pass as they have yet to pass up their school fees.
According to him, the students have mastered the institution’s system of postponing examinations and it came as a shock to them that they were asked to take examinations, especially as they were not yet prepared.
He said, “ND2 students protested, it’s about the examination, the examination was supposed to start yesterday and in MAPOLY, they are fond of postponing examinations, so the students thought it will be postponed.
“Some people have not yet paid their school fees and it is delaying their registration because in our school, before you take an examination, you have to do some registration, after which you’ll be given an examination pass. Most people have yet to get their examination pass and they won’t be allowed to take the examination without the examination pass.
“Yesterday, they thought maybe when they got to school, there would be another postponement, suddenly, the examination just started and instead of having 50, 100 students taking the examination, only 7 showed up in some cases while some did not even come for the examination at all. That was why the students started the protest. Though I think it’s only one or two departments that protested, the issue affects all ND2 students across all departments.”
He also alleged that the state government had instructed students at some levels across all the institutions in Ogun state to have tax clearance certificates, without which their registrations would not be completed.
He said students have been forced to pay N10, 000 or more as tax, especially for those whose parents are not residents in the state.
“The state government has mandated us to pay for tax clearance, apart from the other fees they charge us: school fees, departmental fees, etc. Though they said it is our parents and you know most of us just came here to school, we don’t live here. For some of us, our parents are in Lagos, Oyo, they have tax clearance certificates but these people have refused to accept them. They said it has to be the one paid to Ogun state, they are telling us to go to the local government to pay a sum of N10, 000, then we will use it to complete our registration. That’s for ND1 and HND 1 students, we must pay to get tax clearance.
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“I have paid money but I want it to stop because I know it is very wrong and our examination starts tomorrow. I know some people have not been able to pay up. That’s what I want the world to know, that the Ogun State government is charging students for tax clearance. It’s not only MAPOLY, all the schools in Ogun State are affected – Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta; Tai Solarin University of Education; Olabisi Onabanjo University. I learnt the students in those other schools are paying the same.
“If they were accepting tax clearance for other states, it would have been better. After all, we are in the same country. I would have used my father or mother’s own but they want only Ogun State tax clearance. Those whose parents are working in Ogun and have the clearance form can actually use that, instead of submitting another.”
