The planned national honor for Minister of Education Adamu Adamu has been criticized by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) as an insult to the nation’s students.
Speaking in light of the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ (ASUU) ongoing strike, NANS spokesperson Tope Giwa claimed that it is proof that the Muhammadu Buhari administration does not care about the situation of students.
Nigerian pupils, in his words, “have been taken for a ride.”
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The Minister of Education is on the list of 437 Nigerians who will get National Awards at a ceremony scheduled for October 11, 2022, and he is anticipated to receive the Commander of the Order of Niger, according to Anaedoonline.ng (CON).
In response, the NANS spokesperson issued a statement claiming that Adamu is to fault for the ongoing ASUU strike and that, as a result, there is no justification for granting him an award.
The educational sector has utterly disintegrated under the Minister’s leadership, he continued, refuting the integrity claims of the Buhari administration.
The statement reads: “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 8 months is to be awarded the National Honours of Commander of the Order of Niger (CON).
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“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 in 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.”
Speaking further, the NANS official held that in a decent society, both Adamu and his counterpart in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige should have been sacked.
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“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 said.
Further describing the plan of the federal government as reckless, the students threatened to mobilize themselves for another protest against the government.
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