The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in the North-east has described the sudden increase in students’ registration and school fees upward by 150 – 200% as a complete threat to students’ education.
The association described the development as unacceptable and a clear indication of why young people are being conscripted as drop outs into Boko Haram insurgency, kidnapping, banditry and criminality.
Vice President of NANS, Comrade Suleiman Muhammad Sarki, who stated this Thursday during a world press conference held at the NUJ Press Center Maiduguri, also called on Nigerian elite, stakeholders in education, community, religious and traditional leaders to intervene before the situation goes out of hand.
He further threatened that NANS will not hesitate to embark on a two-week warning strike leading to a nationwide protest if it is not reversed.
”As student leaders and advocates of qualitative education, we are worried on the level of government’s insincerity to give the needed priority to the nation’s education at all levels.
”The standard of education continues to go down due to the insensitivity of government and the inability to provide conducive teaching, learning, and working environment through lack of basic facilities that would make them compete with their peers in other parts of Africa not even globally.
”However, we shall continue to express our displeasure on any registration charges increment by the universities because it is not only capitalistic in tone which thousands of returning students cannot afford, but also an attempt to further deny Nigerian citizens access to education, especially in the North-east region,” Suleiman said.
He also asserted that in turn the increment may undoubtedly affect the ongoing peace building process in the zone at this critical time of hardship on Nigerians by a sadistic government at the federal level, stressing that, “increment of any magnitude in the registration charges will definitely lead to a huge number of school drop outs across the country.”
