ASUU Strike: NANS Says Education Minister Unworthy Of National Honour

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has expressed its opposition to President Muhammadu Buhari's move to confer a National Honour Award on Minister of Education Mallam Adamu Adamu.

President Buhari had reportedly listed Adamu as one of the 437 notable individuals to be honoured by the nation on October 11, 2022.

Reacting in a statement by its National Public Relations Officer, Giwa Temitope, on Monday, the student body described the consideration of the Education Minister for national honour as an insult to the collective intelligence of Nigerian students who have been at home for over eight months due to the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) which Adamu has failed to find a solution to.

“It constitutes an insult to 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 eight months is to be awarded the National Honours of Commander of the Order of Niger.

“This 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 Buhari has taken a step further to show 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,” the statement reads in part.

The association stressed that the Minister of Education and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, who “shamefully walked out” on members of the national leadership of ASUU should have been fired in a functioning country. 

“But, the reverse is the case as Adamu under whose watch the educational sector of the country has totally collapsed is to be recognised with a National Honour for a job ‘well-done’," it added.

“As an association, we reiterate that we pass a vote of no confidence in both Adamu and Ngige.

"And, we maintain that we shall be back to the streets in protest against the recklessness of this administration until the Federal Government settles every issue with ASUU for Nigerian students to return to classes,” the statement concluded.

ASUU has been on strike for over eight months now due to the failure of the government to meet its demands including improved welfare conditions for its members, adequate funding for universities, and the acceptance of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as a payment platform.