Students won’t participate in protest — NANS

From Fred Ezeh, Abuja

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has distanced itself from the planned nationwide protest being organized by some people to, perhaps, register their discontent with the economic hardship and frustrations in Nigeria.

The association said that mobilization for the nationwide protest might be going on, but assured that its members won’t participate in the planned nationwide protest.

NANS President, Lucky Emonefe, told the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, at a meeting, in Abuja on Friday, that the association has taken necessary measures across its organs to ensure there’s peace in the campuses.

He said the meeting with the Minister was meant to address several issues including the recent media reports indicating that the allowances of Nigerian students on foreign scholarships have been slashed.

The NANS President acknowledged the significant hardship being experienced by citizens across the country due to the implementation of recent reforms and policies by the government, stressing that the measures, though aimed at steering the nation towards sustainable development, had undoubtedly brought about economic challenges that had impacted every Nigerian household.

He urged President Bola Tinubu to put mechanisms in place to alleviate the hunger among Nigerians as a result of hardship occasioned by the removal of the fuel subsidy in 2023.

“Undoubtedly, there is hunger in the land and Nigerian students are most affected. We are aware that palliatives were recently given to the governors, but that’s not enough to fix the challenges. As the government is distributing palliatives, they should remember the student constituencies.

“No doubt, we have challenges but we want to say that we have resolved to be law abiding and not to join any chaos in the society,” he added.

The Minister, in his remarks, appreciated the students for making themselves available for periodic interactions to share ideas, as well as other things the government is doing to improve the education sector.

He, however, denied media reports that allowances of Nigerian students abroad have been slashed.

“There’s nothing like that as recently projected in the media.

“What happened was a minor adjustment due to foreign exchange fluctuation. We want to place it on record that neither the Ministry nor the Federal Government has plans to slash the allowances due to students.

“What happened was some adjustments in the amount due to them because of forex fluctuations, and as soon as we get the balance we have applied for, we will pay them. But for now, what is in the budget is what we can pay. So, there is no slash, we will even be happy to increase.”