NANS to Halt Political Campaigns
The National Association of Nigerian Students has threatened to prevent all political campaigns from taking place in the nation until after the public university students have returned to their classes.
On Wednesday, a few days before September 28, the formal day set by the Independent National Electoral Commission for candidates to begin their campaigns, Ojo Olumide, the chairman of the NANS National Taskforce, made this announcement at a news conference in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State.
“Our blocking of access to public roads and ports is just a warning. If the government fails to conclude all the negotiations and agreements with ASUU within two weeks, they will witness more protests and rallies all over the country. They will also witness the annoyance, anger and frustration of Nigerian Students who have been at home for the past seven months.
“As we promise them that we will not allow any political campaign to hold across the country until we are back to class. This government has pushed so many Nigerian students into depression. We say enough is enough; we can no longer bear the brunt of this avoidable crisis in our nation’s public ivory towers again,” he said.
NANS had, in a protest on Monday, blocked the access road to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos as well as the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Ibadan-Ife Road, causing pains to thousands of commuters and passengers.
Their action follows the prolonged strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities which began on February 14.
Meanwhile, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been ordered by the National Industrial Court to end its current strike.
Justice Polycarp Hamman issued a ruling on the interlocutory injunction requested by the Federal government, preventing ASUU from carrying out the strike until the lawsuit’s outcome.
The matter should be sent back to the Industrial Court president for reassignment to another judge, according to Justice Hamman, a vacation judge.
The judge also ruled that public university students who lack the financial means to attend private postsecondary schools are negatively impacted by the strike.
