The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has given its Joint Campus Councils (JCCs) in states affected by the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike the final clearance to commence massive mobilisation for what it described as a “mother of all protests” against the prolonged industrial action.
The NANS National President, Comrade Akinteye Babatunde Afeez, gave the directive in a message to Nigerian students, declaring that the continued disruption of academic activities was no longer acceptable and that students had suffered enough.
Afeez specifically cleared NANS JCC Ondo, NANS JCC Niger, NANS JCC Nasarawa and other JCCs in states where ASUU is currently on strike to begin massive mobilisation for protests in their respective states.
“The continuous ASUU strike is a shame and is no longer acceptable. Nigerian students have suffered enough,” the NANS President said, insisting that students could no longer continue to watch their academic calendars disrupted while their future remained uncertain.
“We demand urgent action. We demand a lasting solution. We demand that students’ time and future be respected,” he added.
The directive marks a fresh escalation in the students’ body’s response to the prolonged ASUU strike, with the association warning that it would no longer remain on the sidelines while the academic activities of millions of students are repeatedly disrupted.
Afeez, who recently returned to Nigeria after a two-day engagement with NANS Ghana and the NANS Leadership Boot Camp in Ghana, also announced plans for a nationwide campus engagement beginning next week.
He said NANS would relocate to campuses across the country to engage students, meet university managements and address issues affecting students’ academic welfare.
As part of the engagement, the association will also embark on a tour of federal roads currently under construction and those completed by the Federal Ministry of Works under the leadership of Engr. Dave Umahi, who is also a patron of NANS.
According to the NANS President, the tour will enable the association to assess the progress of the road projects and better understand their impact on students and communities.
The tour will commence in the Northwest before moving to the Northeast, North Central, Southeast, South-South and Southwest regions.
Afeez also directed Students’ Union Government presidents with peculiar challenges in their institutions to communicate them to the General Secretary of NANS for proper documentation.
He said the documentation would enable the association to engage relevant university managements with clear demands and practical solutions whenever its officials visit the institutions.
However, the immediate focus of the students’ body remains the planned protests over the ASUU strike, with the affected JCCs expected to commence mobilisation across their respective states.
The NANS President said the association would continue to demand urgent government intervention and a lasting resolution to the crisis, stressing that students’ academic time and future must be respected.
He ended the message with the traditional students’ movement declaration: “Aluta Continua!”
