APPARENTLY bothered by the industrial action
rocking the education sector, leadership of the National Association of
Nigerian Students, NANS, has vowed to shut down all major federal
express roads next week if no resumption date is fixed.
The students
union came up with the decision after an emergency meeting held in the
Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin. NANS laments unions strike:
They decried that the Federal Government allowed the Academic Staff
Union of Universities, ASUU, Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and
Associated Institutions, NASU, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian
Universities, SSANU, and National Association of Academic Technologists,
NAAT, to ground academic and non academic activities in Nigerian
institutions. Communicating the outcome of their meeting with Vanguard,
NANS Senate President, Comrade Taiwo Bamigbade said, “The Senate meeting
was well attended by the Student Union Presidents from various tertiary
institutions across the six geo political zones of the federation, NANS
National Executive Council members, stakeholders and concerned Nigerian
students. NANS Senate condemns in totality the lack of sincerity of the
Federal Government to the 2009 agreement it entered with all the
academic staff unions.” NANS President, Chinonso Obasi According to him,
the inactiveness of the Federal Ministry of Education to engage the
staff unions in a meaningful negotiation to avert the ongoing nationwide
strike by ASUU, NASU, SSANU and NAAT calls for concern.
Integrity and
standard of education He implored the unions to look beyond the strike
action and possibly seek justice from the court, as their only
negotiation tools to press home their legitimate demands from the
Federal Government to save the integrity and standard of education in
Nigeria. He said: “NANS is calling on the Federal Government to expedite
action to bring back the striking lecturers/staff to work or consider
total shut down of all major federal express roads by Nigerian students
if no resumption date is fixed in the next one week.” Urges FG to probe
governors over Paris Club Refund The students union, at the same
meeting, also called for the probe of state governors who collected the
Paris Club refund but refused to pay their workers salaries. Bamigbade
said: “NANS is calling for an immediate probe of all state governments
Paris Club refund utilisation, as the purpose to which the fund was
disbursed as announced by President Muhammadu Buhari was jettisoned by
many states, leaving many state civil servants and pensioners salary
arrears unclear.” NANS urges FG to take over LAUTECH In its communiqué,
NANS called on the Federal Executive Council, National Assembly and the
two states involved in the ownership of Ladoke Akintola University of
Technology, LAUTECH, to act as a matter of urgency and to speed up the
processes required to acquire Ladoke Akintola University of Technology,
Ogbomosho, Oyo State by the Federal Government to save the careers of
thousands of Nigerian students in the university. He added that NANS
also frowned at the proposed school fees for the university by the state
government. Permanent resolution of crisis Similarly, the union called
on the Federal Ministry of Education to mandate all heads of
institutions to key in to T-Ship programme of National Health Insurance
Scheme, NHIS, to guarantee affordable and timely health care service for
Nigerian students.
Just as it also called on Health Maintainace
Organizations, HMOs, to be more prudent in their dealings with Nigerian
tertiary institutions and the student populace. While NANS commended
Kaduna State Government for the reopening of tertiary institutions in
southern Kaduna, it sues for the return of peace and order in the state
and for more government attention on education. It added, “The Senate
congratulated the newly appointed Ondo State Executive Council Members
(Commissioners) while calling on the Commissioner of Education to
prioritise the permanent resolution of crisis in all state owned
institutions, particularly Rufus Giwa Polytechnic Owo, Ondo State. Union
passes vote of confidence on its president Meantime, the NANS Senate
has passed vote of confidence on her national president, Comrade
Chinonso Obasi, GCNS, for his tireless efforts to reposition NANS better
as well as his giant strides to have re-invigorated NANS back to the
Committee of Continental Students Union Bodies under All Africa Students
Union, AASU, with his adequate representation in just concluded AASU
Summit in Ghana, where he won an award as the most outstanding student
leader in Africa. The statement said,”The Senate, as a matter of
urgency, implore Federal Ministry of Health and Niger State Government
to come to the aid of its former NANS president Comrade Mohammed Dauda
Kapon, who needs a Liver Transplant in India Hospital.”
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