By Joseph Erunke
Despite the crisis that characterised it on Friday, resulting in a shooting, the national convention of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, ended in Abuja on Saturday morning with three factional presidents.
The convention which started last Monday climaxed with the election of the national executive of the association on Saturday morning.
The trio of Lucky Emonefe, a student of the College of Education, Warri, Delta State; Rioborue Deniran of the Department of Mass Communication, Delta State Polytechnic, Otefe-Oghara and Pedro Obi, a Ph.D. student of Guidance and Counseling studies at Delta State University, who contested for the position of president, said they were elected.
Both Lucky Emonefe and Rioborue Deniran, at separate media conferences in Abuja after the election, said their emergence had brought a new lease of life for NANS.
Speaking, Lucky Emonefe, warned against factionalisation of the NANS movement by aggrieved contestants, saying Nigerian students know their leaders from the Joint Campus Committee, Zonal and the National leadership because they are involved in their elections.
He appealed to President Bola Tinubu to approve a national annual bursary of N200,000 to all Nigerian students irrespective of their creed or tribe.
According to him, the fund will act as a palliative to cushion the effects of the hard economic situation occasioned by the highly overdue economic reforms of the Tinubu administration.
On his part, Comrade Rioborue Jude Deniran, said: “I appreciate the last administration, the Executive, and the Senate arm for their services and sacrifices to the Nigerian students.
“All committees are also appreciated, including the convention chairman. Most appreciation goes to the distinguished senators of NANS (which are the SUG presidents) and our respected stakeholders as well for their contributions and support to the success of the 2023 National Convention. The senators (delegates) have indeed spoken well by electing one of them as NANS President.
“During the convention, a lot happened that we heard and witnessed, good, bad, and ugly. To the glory of God, we have started addressing the bad and ugly situations that require urgent attention. I am calling on the Department of State Security to give a report of the 2023 elective convention as the world is eager to know.
“It’s indeed an enormous privilege and honor to be trusted with the leadership of Nigerian students. I am deeply conscious of that privilege and honor at this time.
“It is indeed a remarkable and historic victory for Nigerian students, and I have no doubt about what this means to the students’ community.
“The mandate you have freely given to us is a mandate for reform and investment in the future of NANS, and it is also very clearly an instruction for good governance. I assure you of good leadership delivery, and you can rest assured that I would keep to my promises.”
The new NANS Senate President, Comrade Akinteye Babatunde Afeez. said the election was free and fair even though some forces had wanted to circumvent the process before the intervention of the police and other security agencies.
He said the shootings reported at the convention were carried out by security agents to scare people who had wanted to cause chaos and disrupt the event, denying that some persons were hurt.
“The shooting was carried out by the DSS, it was not targeted at anybody. Rather, it was meant to scare troublemakers who had wanted to disrupt our event. And contrary to some reports, no one was hurt, he said.
