The former Senate President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Henry Okunomo, has expressed serious concerns about what he describes as the ongoing politicisation of the student body.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television, Okunomo noted that NANS is gradually losing its original identity and purpose due to growing external political influence.
According to Okunomo, the organisation which was once a strong voice for students across the country has now become a platform for political manoeuvres. He claimed that many people now join the association not to represent or defend student interests, but to gain political favour and connections.
“In fact, let me say, the organisation is almost losing it. Because these people have programmed the organisation in the sense that if you do not have government backing, I’m afraid you might not be able to become anything in the organisation,” he said during the interview.
Okunomo, who served in the student body during its more vibrant years, pointed out that NANS is now facing serious challenges due to the actions of individuals outside the academic environment. He was especially concerned about the alleged involvement of Seyi Tinubu, the son of Nigeria’s President, in student union matters.
“With the involvement of the president’s son for the past one year, he has done everything to make sure that the organisation is porous. What he stands to gain, I don’t know. What he wants to achieve, I don’t know. But the question I want the general public to ask him is, what is his interest in NANS?” Okunomo questioned.
He further noted that Seyi Tinubu has never been a student within the Nigerian university system and therefore cannot be seen as a legitimate stakeholder in NANS. According to him, only those who are current students or have previously served in the association should have any say in its affairs.
“He wasn’t a stakeholder. He didn’t school in Nigeria. Because the only thing that can qualify you to be a stakeholder in the organisation is if you have served in the organisation,” he said.
Okunomo also criticised the use of political power to allegedly intimidate and silence voices within the student movement. He warned that such actions contradict the principles of democracy and unity which the student body once stood for.
“You now hide under the power that you have to be terrorising some set of people in the country that everybody’s security is meant to be secured by the president of the country,” he added.
