The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has appealed to all presidential candidates to support Nigerian students by raising funds to meet the demands of striking university lecturers, who have extended their strike for a third month.
The students’ group made the request in a statement signed by Kehinde Damilola Simeon, Chairman of the Ogun State Joint Campus Committee (JCC).
Remember that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) went on strike and promised to keep going until the Federal Government complied with its demands.
The union is requesting that public universities be revitalized, that earned academic allowances be implemented, and that the University Transparency and Accountability Solution be used to compensate university teachers.
According to the statement, the students decided to make the plea to lawmakers and top candidates after the Federal Government failed to satisfy ASUU’s requests after several discussions.
NANS encouraged all presidential candidates to help Nigerian students by ensuring that public universities be reopened, arguing that if politicians can afford the expensive cost of nomination papers, they can afford to help Nigerian students.
“All the Presidential aspirants, especially those from the ruling APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) must rise up and come to the rescue of Nigerian students.
“If truly the aspirants mean well for Nigerians as they are claiming and if they have the love of Nigerian students at heart, they should raise the fund to meet the demands of ASUU since the Federal government has failed woefully in its commitment to improving the education sector.
“Today in Nigeria, both university and polytechnic education is paralysed due to the ongoing strike actions by both members of ASUU and ASUP. It is very unfortunate and unacceptable.
“Nigerian students hereby call on the presidential aspirant, in the spirit of patriotism and in the interest of development to rally around Nigerian students.
“All of these aspirants paid huge amounts of money to procure their nomination forms, so donating funds to rescue the tertiary education in Nigeria should not be too difficult for them.
“It is only by doing this, that Nigerian students and Nigerians, in general, will respect and show support for their ambitions”.