The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has urged the Federal Minister of Education, Dr. Morufu Alausa, to release the report of a panel investigating a leadership and welfare crisis at the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Lagos.
The call from NANS, specifically from its Lagos State Joint Campus Council, comes after months of a leadership vacuum and administrative instability at the college. According to a statement from the student body, the institution has been “running on auto-pilot for over 8 months,” leading to a series of problems for students, including:
- Leadership Vacuum: NANS alleges that a leadership crisis, which led to the exit of the former provost, has left the college with a lack of proactive governance.
- Deteriorating Conditions: A recent campus tour by NANS delegations reportedly found evidence of widespread infrastructural decay, poor administration, and growing insecurity.
- Marginalization of Students: NANS claims the college’s management has been sidelining the NCE (National Certificate in Education) students, who are the primary beneficiaries of the institution.
- Administrative Snub: The student body expressed disappointment that its delegation was refused a meeting with key college officials, including the Acting Provost and the Registrar.
- Financial Imposition: NANS has also protested a N10,000 levy imposed on all students to cover damages from a previous unrest, which the student body sees as “collective punishment” that disregards due process.
The student union has stated that the Ministry of Education must intervene and dispatch a neutral, fact-finding team to address the issues. They warned that if the situation is not addressed urgently, it could lead to a “full-blown crisis.”
The demand for the release of the panel report and a swift resolution to the crisis reflects a broader issue in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector, where students’ unions often clash with institutional management over issues of governance, financial transparency, and student welfare.
