From Victoria, Jigah Abuja
The National Association of Nigerian Students, (NANS), has dissociated itself from the planned protest.
Even as it has vowed not get involved in protests to be carried out across the country beginning from 1st August 2024.
The National President of NANS, Lucky Emonefe, gave the indication during a meeting with the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman in Abuja, Nigeria.
Emonefe vowed not to participate in the protest saying “if the faceless protest starts both students at home and on campus will feel the negative impact of the associated chaos.”
He said, the student body is aware of the numerous challenges facing the country, especially hunger and urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to do more to assuage the problems.
He also called for the ongoing palliatives as part of mitigation, to be extended to students across Nigeria. Similarly, CNG Buses should be deployed on campuses to reduce transportation costs.
Emonefe said, “We have resolved to be law abiding, not to join those wanting to cause chaos in the society. If there is chaos students will feel the impact.”
He said the student Union is aware of the good intentions of the Nigerian government towards students as exemplified by the recently launched National Education Loan Fund, NELFUND.
The Minister of Education Professor Tahir Mamman said the the ministry choose to have a meeting with the student body because they have a very strong voice to appeal to the youths to calm down as the government is willing to listen to them and solve their challenges.
He said; “the government is not denying that there is no hardship in the country because of the unintended consequences of the fuel subsidy removal and some other policies but a lot is being done to surmount the challenges.
“It is our responsibility to calm down our young ones, our children, brothers and sisters and remind them of what has been done and the potential impact of the decision that has been taken . If there is palliatives you will be part of it why not.
“So this the message we want you to push out. All these things for the last one or two weeks are distractions. We should be focusing on how to move the country forward.”
Prof Tahir said, the Nigerian President Tinubu since the removal of fuel subsidy has been giving out palliatives, support the transportation system through the CNG project to reduce the cost of transport, Agriculture, affordable housing projects across the country among others.
According to him, “the President has and will continue to give priority to the education sector, especially Tertiary Institutions where a task to end strikes has been given, issue of University autonomy has been given prominence, loan scheme introduced to ease financial challenges of students, expansion of scholarship scheme for up to 45,000 students to support their education, employability skills being thought in schools, safe school system introduced to improve security for students on campuses.
“You have a president who does not blink when it comes to anything that has to do with education. Even the education budget has also gone up.”
He also clarified that the Ministry did not slash allowances of scholars on foreign scholarships as widely reported rather an adjustment was made due to foreign exchange fluctuation
He said; “We have not slashed the allowances for the students. What happened was adjustment due to FOREX fluctuation. And it is only important that we cut our clothes according to our size. As soon as we get the balance we will pay them.
“Some of the student leaders complained about recent Polytechnic admission processes and want JAMB to make adjustments in its recent criteria towards admissions. There were similar complaints over the high cost of electricity bills which according to them is beyond the Tertiary Institutions.”
