NANS Says It is an Insult on Nigerian Students if Buhari Confer National Honour On Education Minister, Adamu Adamu
FrontierNews reports that The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has berated President Muhammadu Buhari for listing the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu among the recipients of national honours, an order of awards given to citizens and sometimes foreigners in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the nation’s development.
NANS spokesperson, Giwa Yisa Temitope said the action of the President constitutes an insult on the collective intelligence of Nigerian students who have been at home for seven months over the strike embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
ASUU had embarked on a four-week warning strike on February 14 to press home its demands, with the prominent ones being the renegotiation of the ASUU/FG 2009 agreement and the sustainability of the university autonomy by deploying UTAS to replace the government-imposed IPPIS.
Other demands include the release of the reports of visitation panels to federal universities, distortions in salary payment challenges, funding for revitalisation of public universities, earned academic allowance, poor funding of state universities and promotion arrears.
“It constitutes an insult on the collective intelligence of Nigerian students both home and in the diaspora that the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu under whose nose University students have been home for close to 8 months is to be awarded the National Honours of Commander of the Order of Niger (CON),” the statement by the NANS spokesperson read.
“This singular act of the Buhari’s administration is a clear pointer to the fact that Nigerian students have been taken for a ride. And, we see this as the final straw that breaks the back of the camel of Buhari’s much touted integrity.
“Over the years, successive administrations in the country have shown to the Nigerian people that the National Honours is more of recognition of patronage than recognition of excellence. But, Maj. Gen. Buhari (rtd.) has taken a step further to show to the mass of Nigerian students that we are not on the priority list of the administration.
“It is so unfortunate that a country which offered so much in hope and possibilities at independence has today become a land of suffering, insecurity and near hopelessness signposted by youth unemployment and underfunded educational sector.
“In a functioning country, both the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige who shamefully walked out of a meeting with the national leadership of ASUU at the instance of the House of Representatives and his Education counterpart would have been fired before now. But reverse is the case as Adamu Adamu under whose watch the educational sector of the country has totally collapsed is to be recognised with a National Honours for a job well-done.
“As an association, we reiterate that we pass a vote of no confidence on both Mallam Adamu Adamu and Chris Ngige. And, we maintain that we shall be back to the streets in protest against the recklessness of this administration until the Federal Government settle every issue with ASUU and Nigerian students return to lecture theatres.”
