Fact-checking Claims About Free Tuition Fee, Meals and Accommodation at Federal Unity Colleges in Nigeria
A user on the microblogging platform, X, claims that Nigeria’s government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has cancelled tuition fees from all 33 federal science and technical colleges across the nation, beginning from the 2025-2026 academic session.
This was posted on May 17, 2025, with a picture showing people in blue coveralls and captioned, “BREAKING: FG cancels ALL school fees at ALL 33 Federal Science and Technical Colleges starting 2025–2026. Free tuition. Free meals. Free accommodation. Monthly stipends. National & international certificates. Startup loans or grants after graduation. Basically, the children of “nobody” just became the biggest winners. Meanwhile… the M0b is quiet. The Ratel influencers are twerking around it. And the Obidients are foaming at the mouth. Why? Because Peter Obi never did this, and their fav influencer was too busy selling poverty porn and reposting Karl Marx quotes from an iPhone. How do you explain this level of real empowerment to people whose whole activism is Instagram Live and pity engagement? 33 schools across the country, all now free.! Registration: ₦4,200 only. Deadline: 12th June 2025 Entrance Exam: 14th June 2025 Yet your fav “freedom fighter” is still promising “when we win.” News flash: Nigeria is working — just not on your alt timeline. This is how you raise a generation. Not by crying in comment sections or dancing in front of hashtags.”
In the comment section, @nytadeasked, “Is the Federal Government Technical College Ikare Akoko among the beneficiaries?” while @royaltyphillz said “Share the link to register and who helps you type all this English cos we all know you are not learned……”. When this report was published, it generated about 149,000 views and over 3,000 replies, reposts, quotes, likes and bookmarks.
VERIFICATION
What Are Tuition Fees?
Tuition fees are the amount of money that students pay to a school, college, or university for their education. These fees cover the cost of instruction, use of facilities, and sometimes other services like libraries and labs.
Are Unity Schools Tuition-Free?
Federal Unity Colleges, which include some Federal Science Technical Colleges, FSTCs, have seen increases in school fees. Fees for new students were raised from 45,000 naira to 100,000 naira in 2023. For instance, at Federal Science and Technical College Ahoada, new students are expected to pay approximately 83,000 naira, covering items such as boarding fees, uniforms, textbooks, and other essential services. Similarly, FSTC Uyo and FSTC Zuru indicate that while tuition is free, there are mandatory fees for uniforms, textbooks, and other necessities.
Additionally, Parent-Teacher Association, PTA, levies remain a contentious issue. At FSTC Yaba, Lagos, parents have protested against a hike in the PTA levy from 7,500 naira to 12,000 naira, expressing concerns over financial strain and lack of transparency.
In May 2023, the federal ministry of education dropped a breakdown of the 100,000 naira fees that is being paid by students in a memo.
Based on this breakdown, ‘tuition fee’ is ‘free’ but the students pay other fees which sum up to 100,000 naira. The increase from 45,000 naira to 100,000 took effect in May 2023.
Are Meals And Accommodation Free At Unity Schools?
Meals at Unity Schools (Federal Government Colleges) in Nigeria are not free, especially for boarding students. In May 2023, a school circular introduced new charges, with N30,000 indicated as the payment for three meals per day. The federal government provides a meal subsidy, distributing around 2. 48 billion Naira monthly to 112 Unity Colleges. However, funds for November and December 2023 were withheld, leading to debts and interrupted meal services, which led to an investigation in early 2025, launched by the Ministry of Education into the poor food quality in some colleges and recalling of two principals.
From the memo circulated by the education ministry above, boarding (accommodation) is explicitly paid for, which is 30,000 Naira, therefore implying that accommodation is not free.
Further checks through the press releases of the Federal Ministry of Education did not provide any relevant information regarding the payment of monthly stipends, issuance of national and international certificates. Neither was there evidence to support the claim that the government is planning to give startup loans or grants to unity college students after graduation.
CONCLUSION
The claim that the Nigerian government has cancelled tuition fees at all 33 federal science and technical colleges for the 2025-2026 academic session is MISLEADING because the tuition fee has been free for years. The students are however expected to pay other ancillary fees and these payments have not been scrapped. Also, the claim that feeding and accommodation are free is FALSE, as these charges are part of the ancillary fees.
