A group of students, under the aegis of the Committee of Students’ Unions in Niger State-owned tertiary institutions (CUNOTI), protested at the Niger State Government House, Minna, last Wednesday, to draw attention to the challenges facing state-owned tertiary institutions. MAHMUD ABDULSALAM reports.
Incessant lecturers’ strike, unannounced increment in tuition fees, poor infrastructure, delay in computing students’ results and hiccups in scholarship disbursements are the bane of Niger State-owned tertiary institutions.
Worried by these, student leaders from tertiary institutions in the state, under the aegis of Committee of Students’ Unions in Niger State-Owned Tertiary Institutions (CUNOTI), staged an early morning protest last Wednesday to draw government’s attention to what they described as “rot in the education sector”.
The protesters were drawn from the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU) in Lapai; Niger State College of Education in Minna; Niger State Polytechnic in Zungeru; and Fati Lami Abubakar Institute of Legal and Administrative Studies (FLAILAS) in Minna. They trooped out in their numbers and marched on major roads in Minna, the state capital.
Tagged: Save our schools from collapse, the protest, the students said, was to call on the government to address issues negatively affecting their academic progress. They added that the perennial closure of their schools and fees increment remained hurdles against tertiary education in the state.
CAMPUSLIFE gathered that some students of the Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUT MINNA) and Federal Polytechnic, Bida (BIDA POLY) joined the protest in a show of solidarity with their colleagues.
The protest, which was led by the president of the National Association of Niger State Students (NANISS), Lawal Abugi, started from the Abdulsalami Youth Centre at 6am, while a combined team of security operatives guided the protesters to make the exercise violence-free.
Clad in black polo shirts with the inscription “#SaveOurFuture”, the demonstrators moved to prominent government offices in Minna, before stopping at the Niger State Government House with their procession causing a mild gridlock on major roads.
They chanted solidarity songs as they marched to the state House of Assembly Complex to register their displeasure.
The also displayed banners and placards with various messages, such as: “Enough is enough, our tuition fees must be reduced”, “Declare Operation Aluta-Dance in state education”, “Change begins with our politicians”, “If una mumu never do, our mumu don do”, “Bad education begets bad leaders”, and “Quality education is our right, we strongly demand for it”, among others.
Addressing the protesters at the state House of Assembly, Faiza Salisu, NANISS Treasurer, said: “Acquiring quality education should not be the exclusive preserve of the children of the rich. We kick against arbitrary increment in fees charged by the College of Education in Minna, and IBBU. We want the state legislators to review the fees and enact a bill that will check the exploitation of the poor.”
When notified of the absence of lawmakers at the assembly complex, the students dropped a protest letter for the Speaker.
Abugi said doom awaited education in the state if stakeholders continued to pay lip service to the challenges facing students. He noted that efforts were required to save state-owned schools from collapse.
He said: “Needless strikes slow down the progress of our schools and aid the conscription of youths into crimes. In the past, we had willfully tolerated the late release and issuance of results to graduating students, but we cannot tolerate it any longer. There are benefits in timely scholarship payments to students. We believe the provision of basic learning facilities in all state-owned schools, creation of an enabling atmosphere for teaching and providing adequate funding are ingredients that will rescue our education from collapse. We cannot continue to watch helplessly while our future is being traded away by the inaction of stakeholders and policymakers.”
Abugi said the association was aware of the government’s effort to revamp tertiary education, but said the action would be meaningless if the stakeholders did not find a permanent solution to perennial lecturers’ strike in all the state-owned institutions.
Senate President of the Student Representatives’ Assembly (SRA) Aliyu Anas noted that a dysfunctional education bred uncultured, unskilled and morally-bankrupt youths, saying: “Patriotism demands that we ask for good and affordable education. We can never attain our career dreams when we continue to learn in dilapidated classrooms and obsolete facilities.”
The protesters marched from the state House of Assembly Complex to the Governor’s Office, in company of riot policemen, where they demanded an audience with the governor.
They were received by the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Ketso, who reiterated the government’s commitment to providing quality education to its citizens. Ketso assured the students that an ad-hoc committee would be constituted to interface with them to address their plight.
The trio of the Chief of Staff, Mikail Mitosahi, Commissioner for Education Hajiya Fatima Madugu, and Senior Special Assistant on Youth to the Governor Salisu Ball held a close-door meeting with the protesting students’ leaders at the Government House.
CAMPUSLIFE gathered at the end of the meeting, which lasted over four hours, that Mitosahi promised that recommendations from the meeting would be implemented by the government.
Praising the students for being peaceful in their conduct, Mitosahi said: “The salvation of our education sector is imminent. We are committed to ending the menace of industrial disputes. Our students, henceforth, shall be beneficiaries of mouth-watering scholarship packages. We hope our intervention would end the era of late collection of results. These are sacred obligations we are committed to fulfil. We commend the protesters for displaying a high sense of patriotism, decorum and maturity in driving home their points.”
Hajiya Madugu said the ministry had initiated policies aimed at uplifting the standard of technical, entrepreneurial and vocational education in schools.
She said: “Your agitations could not have taken place at a better time. You have offered us your constructive and objective criticisms. Hence, the government would be proactive in doing the needful for tertiary education sub-sector. Our commitment to addressing students’ socio-academic plight remains absolute.”
Abugi, thanked the government’s negotiation team for conceding to their requests, stressing that implementation of the agreements would help in building human resources capacity for the state in the nearest future.
‘’NANISS is willing to partner the state government in eradicating the rot in our education,” he said.
