The National Association of Nigerian Students(NANS), has expressed dissatisfaction with the composition of the special committee that will oversee the new Nigerian Education Loan Fund and called on President Bola Tinubu to review it to include more student representatives as well as remove the Nigerian Bar Association( NBA) and the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU) from the board.
The body’s National President, Umar Barambu, who disclosed this while speaking to State House Correspondents after he led NAN’s delegation on a visit to President Tinubu at the State House on Tuesday, noted that it will be more meaningful if students had a say in how it would be runned and managed.
His words: “We thanked the President for the Students Loan Bill. We have outlined the clauses that we are not too comfortable with.
“And part of them is the issue of that board that we mentioned to the President, which we said at least students’ representatives should be captured and there are some organisations that they put there, which to us, they don’t need to be there.
“We gave him an example, most especially the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA) and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASU). ASUU has its own microfinance bank running its own affairs without students on its board. So, I don’t think it’s wise for us to allow them to be inside our own board because it is purely students.
“We are the major stakeholders of that bank. So I don’t think allowing them to be there is good. Not only them, but we also mentioned a lot of people that they should remove and put more of student-oriented organisation.”
In response, the President promised to consider the requests of the NANS leaders but urged the students body to ensure unity among its members across the country to achieve more.
“You have to promote unity and stability among each other. You have to employ democratic means in your programmes and elections. I have to say, anyone who is unable to accept and celebrate a free and fair election, does not deserve the joy of victory,” Tinubu said.
The President stressed that poverty should not prevent any Nigerian from obtaining quality education at the highest levels.
He promised that his administration would commit more resources to the education sector to ensure that every Nigerian child, regardless of their background, has access to quality education.
“Poverty should not prevent anybody, any child, including the daughter or son of a wood seller, ‘boli’ (plantain) seller or yam seller from attaining their highest standard of education, to eliminate poverty.
“If we all believe that education is the greatest weapon against poverty, then we have to invest in it. If you eliminate poverty from one family, you can carry the rest of the weight,” the President said.
He thanked the students for supporting the removal of subsidy on petrol, explaining the reasons behind the decision and the need to curb smuggling.
“I’m glad you understand the reason for the subsidy removal. We were at a point where Nigeria tried to draw water from a dry well and that is no longer acceptable we equally must not continue to service the smugglers because they used to take our tankers and Premium Motor Spirit across the borders. We will put our money where our mouth is,” he said.
