As part of its first assignments, newly elected leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) will be meeting the Nigerian government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) towards resolving the eight-month-old strike by university lecturers.
The new president of the association, Comrade Umar Barambu, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.
According to Barambu, the aim of the meeting is to find a centre point for an amicable resolution to ensure that students in public universities return to school.
It would be recalled that ASUU had embarked on strike on February 14 over the government’s failure to honour agreements signed by both parties.
The lecturers’ demands include the revitalisation of public universities, payment of earned academic allowances and the deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) for payment of university lecturers’ salaries, among others.
Barambu also said NANS would fight against the victimisation of student leaders and activists on campuses.
He said the new leadership of the students’ association would build strategic partnerships with development organisations to ensure students on campuses enjoy better welfare in terms of ICT, Smart Campus, and access to resources for research and academic productivity.
In a statement, Asefon Sunday, the immediate past NANS President, commended the process through which Barambu emerged.
“When I assumed office, one of the promises I made is to ensure that I leave NANS better than I met it. We initiated electoral reforms and made them institutional. Let me congratulate the President-Elect of NANS, Comrade Usman Umar Barambu for earning the mandate of the Nigerian students in a very free and fair election.”
“In the same vein, I congratulate Comrade Attah Felix for returning as the Senate President of NANS. Institutional reforms are the bedrock upon which transformational progress is built. We reform the system through a constitutional amendment and made accreditation impossible for ineligible voters and for the first time in our recent history, we conducted a rancour-free election and not a single bullet was shot as against experiences of the past where hoodlums shoot guns at will. I also want to appreciate Nigerian students for the overwhelming support I was given. Nigerian students stood by me and we fought side by side all through our time in the trenches. We won some, and we learned from others. I therefore on behalf of my team look forward to handing over to the new leadership whom I hope will build on the legacies we have elicited,” the statement read.
Recall that Barambu, a student of Economics and Development Studies of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was on Saturday declared NANS President.
He got 292 votes to defeat his closest rival, Umar Farouk Lawan, who scored only 8 votes.
