NANS Vows To Resist Varsity Fee Hike

Chinonso Obasi, NANS President

**Threatens To Pass Vote Of No Confidence On Buhari’s Govt.

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has warned 38 Nigerian universities against attempts to jack up tuition fees in their institutions.

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The association in a statement signed by its President, Comrade Chinonso Obasi, threatened to pass a vote of no confidence on President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration if the government fail in its responsibility to stop the planned hike.

Obasi took a swipe at the APC-led government, saying the administration has failed to justify the confidence of Nigerian students in more than two-years since it took over power.

The statement reads in part: “NANS received the report that about 38 tertiary institutions have concluded plans to jack up tuition fees in their institutions with utter pain and disgust, because over the years Nigerian students have been made to bear the brunt of poverty ideas and administrative ineptitude of managers and chief executives of tertiary institutions.

“We regret to note that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has not fully committed the government to justify the confidence of Nigerian students within the two years of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in power.

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“This oversight becomes very painful despite the positive contributions of Nigerian students to the success of the administration’s key policies and programmes, such as, the fight against corruption, maintenance of peace and unity of the country, as well as campaign for local government autonomy.

“NANS feels that Nigerian students do not merit such harsh punishment as fee increases, which would further limit the capacity of the students to dream of a better future.

“Consequently the National President, Comrade Chinonso Obasi, in agreement with Nigerian students and the National Executives of NANS wish to serve notice to the authorities concerned that Nigerian students will never endure any increase in tuition at this time of the nation’s socio-economic challenges.

“If administrators of Nigeria’s educational institutions have run out of  ideas of funding and sustaining educational institutions in the country, they should feel free to liaise with students to explore new ways of funding, instead of the usual resort to internal revenue generation through increased tuition fees.

“While we express our readiness to dialogue with chief executives of tertiary institutions, NANS wishes to reiterate the fact that Nigerian students has been patient with PMB administration and our patience has reached the elastic limit. The President Buhari administration should recognize that this time to reward the understanding and cooperation of Nigerian students with education subsidy, proper funding of education and adequate welfare initiatives for students and resisting the temptation to increase tuition fee.

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“However NANS wishes to inform Nigerians that any attempt by this administration to increase tuition fee in our tertiary institutions, will leave Nigerian students with no other option than passing a vote of no confidence on the APC led Federal Government.

“NANS is prepared to resist this blatant sabotage against the educational rights of Nigerian students and future youths.

“We therefore call on all well-meaning individuals and stakeholders of education to hasten and find lasting solutions to the deplorable attitude towards education in the country and put smiles on the faces of the most marginalized group of Nigerians, the students.”

Recall that the chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of the University of Ibadan, Deji Omole, said that 38 Universities have increased their tuition fees.

He credited the increment to poor funding of the institutions by the Federal Government.

Some of the institutions mentioned include: University of Lagos (UNILAG), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), University of Nigeria (UNN), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Bayero University Kano (BUK), University of Abuja, Usman Danfodiyo University (UDUS), University of Ilorin, and National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) among others.

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