Ahead of the nationwide protest scheduled for August 1 across the country, Nzubechi Valentine Ahaneku, National Vice President, Special Duties, of the National Association of Nigeria Students, NANS, has stated that students from the Southeast region will not participate in the protest because it will not address their issues.
He revealed his position during a conversation with the media in Owerri.
The NANS VP stated that not participating in the protest does not imply that everything is fine with students in the region, but rather that they are attempting to avoid situations that will be impossible to escape.
Ahaneku said that students can organise regulated protests to express their dissatisfaction with the federal government’s neglect of their affairs rather than engaging in an act that could backfire on them.
“Embarking on a protest where we are not part of those who planned it and whose outcome you cannot predict could be dangerous on the side of the students. Even though the protest may be genuine, it can be hijacked,” he said.
He went on to say that students would want to refrain from engaging in any act that would disrupt their academic process and jeopardise the future of their education and that there are still other methods to raise the government’s attention to its responsibilities.
On the topic of the student loan scheme by the federal government, the student activist stated that institutions in the southeast have yet to access the grant.
His words: “Federal and state institutions in the Southeast region are yet to indicate if they have received any loans, and we are closely watching.”