Asefon and the demands of Nigerian students

It is no exaggeration to say that Nigerian students are in pain. The preeminent category of Nigerian students, Nigerian undergraduates, have   been   at home for well over eight months. Thanks,   the COVID-19 pandemic and the unending impasse between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the federal government! This enforced time at home has […]

It is no exaggeration to say that Nigerian students are in pain. The preeminent category of Nigerian students, Nigerian undergraduates, have   been   at home for well over eight months. Thanks,   the COVID-19 pandemic and the unending impasse between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the federal government! This enforced time at home has undoubtedly taken an incalculable economic and psychological toll on Nigerian students, especially Nigerian undergraduates.

It was amusing to see how the government almost panicked into resolving the impasse during the EndSARS protest when it became apparent that  many disgruntled Nigerian students were at the forefront of the protest. Since the protest ended, however, many meetings between ASUU and the government have yielded  nothing. So  the students have remained stuck at home. In this period, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has maintained a  deafening silence.

Comrade Sunday Asefon was recently elected President of the preeminent body of Nigerian students. At over 40, he immediately got the critics on his back. He has since gone further to  denounce the   EndSARS protests and call for the closure of  private universities.

NANS’s history is rich with the struggle for democracy in Nigeria. Even in the days when the country suffocated under military regimes, NANS fought. Its   indefatigable contributions played a pivotal role in ushering   democracy into the country.

But in subsequent years, the rot and malaise afflicting many Nigerian institutions and   associations have seeped into the body. The credibility of the body has rapidly bled away for  many years as it has cultivated an  unsavoury aptitude for  blowing hot and cold at the same time. So   compromised and complicit in Nigeria’s struggles    have   NANS   become that it has lost its moral authority as the mouthpiece of Nigerian students. Most Nigerian students have no doubt that NANS has become a tool in the hands of unscrupulous politicians.

This is why Asefon must consider his mission at NANS a redemptive one. Nigeria currently stands at  critical crossroads. Nigerian students are languishing at home; the education sector is in tatters; insecurity is at an all-time high; the economy is badly struggling and  families have been plunged  into grinding poverty. Trust in government is at an all-time low.

Asefon has not been elected a government official. But if he can provide visionary leadership, NANS can rebuild its  badly depleted credibility and  again offer a powerful platform to Nigerian students. NANS can raise its voice in holding the government to account and opening up the civic space. It can force better conditions for Nigerian students who crucially will supply the next crop of Nigeria’s leaders.

The morning tells the day, and for Asefon, the whistle has already  sounded. He must hurry because by his utterances so far,  he risks abandoning the Nigerian students he has been elected to serve.

 

Kene Obiezu, Abuja.