The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has called on the Federal Government to urgently accede to the university lecturers’ demand to put an end to the lingering industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Chairman of the NANS Joint Campus Committee (JCC), Edo State axis, Comrade Salami David Clint, gave the charge in a statement on Monday in Benin City.

Comrade Clint said the Federal Government should prioritise the education sector, adding that “only then would the country witness true growth and positive change.”

The union had in November last year declared a nationwide strike over poor funding of the education sector.

It said that Nigerian universities and the entire education sector were poorly funded, and also alleged plans by the Federal Government to increase tuition fees and re-introduce an education bank.

ASUU also hinged its action on non-implementation of an agreement it entered into with the Federal Government in 2009 and non-implementation of a Memorandum of Action in 2017.

Clint said the Federal Government must invest in the education sector if truly youths are the leaders of tomorrow.

According to NANS JCC, “Government must change its attitude towards the education sector if this country must witness positive development and true change.

“Education is the bedrock of development of any given society. When you play politics with the sector, you are stifling development.

“So, we need to do something urgently if we are really serious about developing this country. We need to start asking questions.

“Nigeria’s educational administrators cannot afford to fold their arms at this time. Action should be taken, if truly the young ones would be leaders of tomorrow. They need to be adequately equipped for the challenges ahead.

“If the older generation enjoyed free and accessible education during their time, it is going to be a crime for us, who are the future generation of Nigeria, to suffer and be faced with poor infrastructure, poor education facilities and incessant strike by our lecturers. This was not the intention of our founding fathers and we will continue to engage the government constructively to achieve the Nigeria of our dream.”

Speaking further, the NANS JCC Chairman noted that the 5.23 per cent allocation to education in the 2019 federal budget was not good enough.

He declared that for Nigeria to join the comity of nations in achieving the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s 2030 agenda, there must be concerted efforts in increasing funding of the education sector.

Clint, therefore, demanded an upward review of the budgetary allocation to education to meet the 26 per cent recommended by UNESCO, before final passage of the federal by the National Assembly.