NANS plans protest at UNILAG on Wednesday, asks DSS to back off

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has warned the Department of State Services not to stop students from exercising their rights to protest, saying this is a universally recognized human right.

The National Public Relations Officer of the union, Giwa Temitope, said this when reacting to the statement made by DSS that some politicians were mobilizing student leaders for violent protest against the Federal Government over socioeconomic matters.

However, a group named the Student Solidarity Group Against Fee Hike, had last week revealed that it would protest against fee hike at the University of Lagos on Wednesday, September 6, 2023.

And to back the move, the NANS spokesman in a statement said the student body would be storming UNILAG for the protest and urged the DSS not to infringe on the rights of students.

Giwa Temitope said, “It is quite embarrassing that the DSS has derailed to become the propaganda arm of the Federal Government, thereby, raising false alarms and even interfering in affairs that do not in any way relate to their line of profession.

“As an association, we maintain that we are not satisfied with how the Nigerian society is being run, most especially, as regards arbitrary fee increment across our tertiary institutions, with the University of Lagos being a model.”

NANS said the failure of the UNILAG management to honour the agreement reached at the meeting with student leaders on August 2, “forced the student body to fix a date of action at the university for September 6 and the protest will hold till the management reverses the hike.

“Students are therefore enjoined to come out en masse and join the protest for the immediate reversal of fee at the University of Lagos.”

The protest is against the decision of the UNILAG management who in July 2023, increased fees from N19,000 to N190,250, for students studying medicine, while for courses that require laboratory and studio, the students were to pay N140,250.