*NANS fumes over ASUU strike, says Education Minister doesn’t deserve nat’l honours
*Blames him for poor handling of 8 months old strike by university lecturers
*That honouring Adamu constitutes insult to collective interest of students
*Incessant strikes destroying varsity education in Nigeria, JAMB Registrar cries out
By Our Correspondent with agency report
Disturbed by the industrial action embarked upon by members of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU eight months ago, the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS has said that conferring the Education Minister, Mallam Adamu Adamu with national honour by the Federal Government is an insult to Nigerian students.
The Association was reacting to a list of 437 “prominent” Nigerians to be honoured by the federal government which included the name of the Education Minister on the category of Commander of the Order of Niger, CON, even though the Presidency has disowned the list that went viral at the weekend.
In a statement released in Abuja yesterday, the spokesperson of the students’ body, Giwa Temitope said that the move to honour Adamu “is a clear pointer to the fact that Nigerian students have been taken for a ride.”
He blamed the Minister for the eight-month-long industrial action by the University lecturers regretting that Nigerian education has “totally collapsed” under his regime
“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, CON.
“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, President Buhari 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 hope and possibilities at independence has today become a land of suffering, insecurity and near hopelessness signposted by youth unemployment and an 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, the 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”, he stated.
In a related development, the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede has lamented that incessant strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, is destroying university education in Nigeria.
He added that the union must realise that the country is no longer in a military regime, hence, there must be a paradigm shift as “you cannot do the same thing the same way all the time.”
Speaking at the grand finale of the 2022 Independence Day Essay competition organised by the Osun State Government in Osogbo, Oloyede, who was represented by JAMB’s Director of Legal Services, Abdulwahab Oyedokun, said stakeholders must find a way for a workable education within the available legal framework.
“Osun State is a state of pride. We have a history; Ife is the origin of Yoruba. We have culture, Osogbo is the centre of culture. We have a great Ife (OAU)here, Osun State University is coming. Unfortunately, for ASUU, we are destroying Ife ‘OAU’ with this incessant strike.
“I know as a matter of fact that about 20 years ago, more than 40 per cent of students made OAU their first choice University, but today OAU is not 1 to 10 in terms of several applications.
“We commend the Osun State government for this initiative for this wonderful initiative that is taking place in a society where others are prioritising things that are of no benefit that will bring no future to the children.
“We, at the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, are working towards building a better successor generation for Nigeria and the only way to do that is to guarantee the integrity of our examination process”, he stated.
