The leadership of the National Association of Nigerian
Students (NANS) has distanced itself from the purported
allegations by the Academic Staff Union of Universities
(ASUU) claiming it received N150 million from the
presidency.
The students’ Union body disclosed this in a statement
signed by Mr Adeyemi Amoo, it’s National Public Relations
Officer (PRO), and made available to the News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Saturday.
Amoo called on Nigerian students to discountenance the
allegations by ASUU, saying that the association was ready
to protect the interest of all the students.
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He said President Muhammadu Buhari, who is a known
person in character and style to virtually all Nigerians, would
never dole out such amount of money for any reason, which
would not be of any national benefits or developments.
President Buhari on January 3, met with the leadership of
the Nigerian Students to resolve issues with ASUU.
The meeting centred on ways to smoothen unresolved
issues that led to the industrial action.
“Our attention has been drawn to the purported and
sponsored allegation, that NANS had been bribed by
President Muhammadu Buhari with a whooping sum of
N150million to protest against ASUU.
“We commend the well meaning, intellectual and genuine
civil society groups for not falling cheap for this blackmail,
as we’ve gotten informed and reliably that they’ve also been
lobbied by ASUU to join them in pushing such blackmail.
“We are not surprised that this blackmail isn’t flying beyond
the pseudo groups they’ve been able to arrange and
mobilise with cash.
“President Muhammadu Buhari, is a known person in
character and style to virtually all Nigerians, even the
oppositions knows that Buhari will never give out such
amount of money for any reason(s) that is not of national
benefits or developments.
”No doubt this propaganda might have seen the acceptance
of the masses if it wasn’t targeted towards Buhari himself.”
Amoo explained that NANS had earlier declared November
17, 2018 as a nationwide day of mass action tagged: “SAVE
EDUCATION RALLY ” held simultaneously across the states
of the federation, to protest the incessant strikes across
universities, polytechnics and colleges of Education.
He added that in October 2018, NANS national leadership,
met with the Minister for Education, to fine-tune ways of
putting a long term end to the regular carnival of strikes in
the educational sector.
“We thereby demanded as the major stakeholders in the
sectors, to always have representatives at the meeting of
ASUU with Federal Government, as this was targeted
towards adding to the strength and voice of ASUU, so as to
make government yield to there demands in time.
“The Federal Government on her own side sees the request
of been an observer at the negotiation table with ASUU as a
welcome development.
“NANS was invited twice to the meeting of Federal
Government with ASUU, ably represented by the NANS
national president, Danielson Akpan, but was walked out
twice by the ASUU leadership, insisting that such
negotiations must not be done in the presence of younger
ones.
“NANS leadership begins to wonder what reasons might be
behind the blind insistence of ASUU that NANS must not
observe the meeting, when the Federal Government has
wholeheartedly approved our attendance at such meetings.”
Amoo said the NANS leadership, ordinarily would have
informed the students and the general public on this actions
by ASUU, but decided not to give room for the government,
to see the actions as an advantage to blackmail the ASUU.
He added that NANS after exhausting all means, resolved to
issue an ultimatum to the Federal Government and ASUU to
return to negotiation table to urgently safe students from
getting involved or addicted to various forms of social vices.
According to him, NANS, in the course of getting things
resolved urgently, sorted an audience with president
Muhammadu Buhari, which was granted and held on January
3 at the presidential villa.
“At the meeting, NANS appealed to president Muhammadu
Buhari to as a matter of urgency resolve the ASUU strike, for
him not to loose the support of over 20million Nigerian
students.
“This was the statement of the NANS president at the
meeting as against the cheap blackmail that NANS has
assured Buhari of mobilising 20million votes for him.
“NANS, therefore, uses this medium to inform Nigerian
students and Nigerians at large, that its leadership will not,
has not and will not for any reason sell the interest and
integrity of our dear organisation.
“We want to tell ASUU that NANS is not for sell, we have not
and will not turn our struggles to source of empowerment,”
he said.
