By; Alex Uangbaoje, Kaduna.
Following what they termed; “Subjugation and neglect of the Nigerian students in Kaduna State”, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS zone A) and National Association of Kaduna State Students (NAKASS) has expressed disappointment over the leadership of Malam Nasir El-Rufai as Governor of Kaduna State.
The students expressed regret over their betrayal by the governor after they have massively supported him to become the governor of the state, by monitoring the electoral process and ensuring there was no rigging in their various constituencies and voting massively for him.
The students during a joint press briefing, Monday on the state of affairs in Kaduna State, lamented that “all efforts of the leadership of both organisations to have an audience with the governor proves abortive as he utterly refused to grant or approve all letters written to him”
Leader of the group, Comrade Umar Balarabe, National President, NAKASS, said rather than the governor presenting himself as a true democrat and leader he portrayed himself, “Instead the governor has been very draconian in his policies and anti-students as seen in the recent increment in the school fees of the state owned institutions.
“Even though the governor in the guise of of making education accessible to all, made application forms free for all applicants, what use and benefit will it be that after gaining admission, our parents cannot afford to pay the registration and tuition fees?
”It is worthy of clarification that since the inception of this administration, the students of Kaduna state have not received their scholarship (bursary) even after the governor subjected the students to untold hardship of biometric data capturing.
“The process saw and led to the incapacitation of some of our students and several incurred different degrees of injuries due to road accidents, yet the government kept spending huge some of amount in its highly criticised jamboree policy of feeding the primary school pupils.
“Very unfortunate is the oversea scholarship scheme of the state government which has been limited to only graduates with 1st class degree honors. This we perceive as a deliberate attempt to award the scholarship to political allies who attends private or foreign universities only where first class degrees are up for grab.”
The student umbrella bodies also demanded according to them in the interest of peace that “the Governor as a matter of necessity appoints a Special Adviser on student affairs who must be conversant with students’ struggles and plight.
“The scholarships, all rights and privileges entitled to students be fully paid as at when due to motivate the students.
“Just as the Governor avails himself for town hall meetings with other stakeholders, he should also create enabling environment to meet with the students constituency too.
“The government should review fees of the state owned institutions to avoid mass action by the students.
”The governor should monitor and ensure the full implementation of the budgetary allocation to the education ministry.
“The governor Mal. Nasir El-Rufai should apologise to Nigerian students for neglect and condole the organization over the accidents and trauma the students went through during the verification exercise.”
According to the student body, failure of the government to meet their demand within the next 7 days “will further provoke the students as such as shall continue to use all avenues available to us to ensure the interest of our students is fully protected.”
The students however affirmed their support and commitment beyond the ordinary to ensure, promote and protect the unity, progress and growth of Kaduna State and the nation at large.
