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Opinion

NANS : From Radicalism to inessentialism

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3 years ago

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By Adnan Mukhtar

The National Association of Nigerian Students NANS, an umbrella of more than 30 million students in Nigeria was known to be a radical force in the fight against corruption, an agency for national construction, a critique of the National economy and foreign policy. NANS of yesterday was as radical as the mass labour movements not just in Nigeria but internationally.

I decided to write this article for the benefit of upcoming student leaders, as a final year student in the University, I have eleven months to graduate as a student. Immediately after my graduation, I promise to disengage from student politics not for any other reason but because of my integrity and my great contribution in the fight against corruption.

I see being in students Union while I am no longer a student, either a drop out or a graduate as a form of corruption. That is what is happening in students Union in Nigeria. There are dominated by old crooks and corrupt youths that happens to be non students especially NANS.

However, it is my hope that there will be a positive aftermaths of this article that would manifest in ideologically and politically strengthen the Students Union and a new NANS.

As I said earlier, I am writing this for the benefit of our younger generation that may finds interest in students Union, as I was told the radicalism of NANS and the role it plays towards the restoration of democracy and democratization of education during the military regimes in Nigeria, let me give my readers a brief historical analysis of NANS, a radical student movement that evolved as the most important voice for a democratic society and a democratic, accessible educational system funded and managed effectively.

The National Association of Nigerian Students NANS, was formed in July 1980 at a meeting of students representatives and activists across the country held at the Yaba College of Technology Lagos after the proscription and banning of the National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS) in 1978 by the Obasanjo regime, after a nation wide students unrest. The major objectives of NANS was encapsulated in the NANS charter of demand that was launched in December 1982. The charter of demands consists of the main objectives of NANS, it’s demands from the government and it’s constitutional doctrine as a guiding principle of how it operates.

The major objective is democratization of education at all levels, adequate funding of educational system from primary to tertiary level to the extent that every Nigerian has access to quality education.

The charter insisted that socio-economic justice and equality should form the basis of democracy.

NANS was a demonstration of youth radicalism, idealism and dogged commitment to an egalitarian society.

It is unfortunate that students Union of today and NANS have subjected to begging, mouthpiece and defendants of anti masses policies. Students are into NANS not only to fight for a just cause and the rights of themselves, but for materialistic gains. Holding meetings in expensive hotels and using huge amounts of money as a tool of winning elections.

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Many of office aspirants in NANS are sponsored by government just to protect its interest and above all, if you are not financially stable, forget about NANS as delegates usually ask for money during elections. This is to show you how corrupt NANS is today.

I was worried when I saw this for myself in Gombe aborted 2016 NANS convention and the recent one conducted at old parade ground Abuja.

The aspirants for the presidential office have spent whooping millions just to clinch the presidential seat, if you see how money was spent by these aspirants and how desperate they are willing to win election, you will ask yourself that something is going wrong. One worst thing is that, it is happening under an administration that claims to be fighting corruption and mostly with support of the office of the special assistant to the president on youth and students affairs.

NANS have turned and changed from the radical stance it was known to inessentialism. NANS that was known to be an agency of National construction and it’s dogged resistance to Babangida’s structural adjustment programme has subjected itself to a critical mouthpiece of governmental policies either anti masses or not.

During the NANS convention of 2016 at Pantami stadium in Gombe, the federal government is doing it’s best to ensure the success of it’s own Aspirant Aruna Kadiri and even after it was aborted and an aspirant Chinonso Obasi who claimed to be from Ebonyi State University declared a faction, the government still ensured the emergence of it’s candidate Aruna Kadiri in the recent reconvened convention at old parade ground.

Both Kadiri, Chinonso Obasi and all the aspirants that contested are all claiming to be postgraduate students, some are in their early 40’s while the most youngest among them is Chinonso Obasi. I am doubting what a 40 year old is looking for as a student leader, most of the radical and left wing NANS leaders that we heard happens to be undergraduate students and that should be the tradition, it is not sensible to have a postgraduate student as NANS president when you compared the population of the undergraduate and that of the postgraduate. It looks as an incessant and unnecessary domination of right people.

I am sure, this will not happen in the NANS of yesterday, the radical students then will not allow and support this attitude.

NANS was known to have less involved itself from governmental affairs, it is unfortunate that the NANS we are currently having is fully involved and supportive to whatever policy the government has brought.

NANS was known in building alliances with some radical ideological movements like the progressive youth movement of Nigeria (PYMN) and Alliance of progressive students (APS) etc.

Today NANS, is a toothless bulldog to some unideological political parties in the country.

Upcoming student leaders need to know that the quest to rebuild NANS is a binding on them, NANS must be principled to it’s aims and objectives, the charter of demands should be amended and updated because of the current neo liberal policies in the country.

The upcoming students leaders should continue from where the radical former NANS leaders stopped, stick to its charter and aims and objectives, let them come into NANS with good intention of making the lives of students better.

The current happenings in NANS is a reflection of what is happening in Nigeria, problems of corruption, Alliance with governments and money mongering by students need to be addressed as the NANS we read about is not what we are seeing today. NANS has since turned to an inessential umbrella of Nigerian Students unless of it’s problems are addressed.

Adnan Mukhtar is the Secretary General of Northwest University, Students Council Kano. He was formerly a special assistant in NANS zone A. He wrote this article in December 2016 on his way to Kazaure, Jigawa State.

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Opinion

Alhaji Tijjani Rabiu Spikin: A Neighbour, Philanthropist, and Friend of Children

Published

18 hours ago

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July 11, 2026

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BY
MUDASSIR ALIYU YUNUSA (MSNB)
mudassiray@gmail.com

Alhaji Tijjani Rabiu Spikin, popularly known as ‘Tijjani Spikin,’ is one of the most respected elders of the Kofar Nassarawa and Sabuwar Kofa communities. A successful businessman with an outstanding reputation, he is admired not only for his business accomplishments but also for his kindness, humility, and generosity toward those around him, especially children.

He is widely regarded as a man of peace who values harmonious relationships. He believes that good neighbourliness is built on mutual respect, compassion, and the willingness to uphold the rights of others. His home has always been a place where people feel welcome, particularly children, and he has earned the trust and admiration of both the young and the old through his exemplary character.

What distinguishes Alhaji Tijjani most is his genuine love for children. He has always shown special affection to every child living in his neighbourhood, regardless of family background. It has long been his habit to brighten their day by giving them small gifts, including cash, biscuits, sweets, and other treats. To many children, these gestures were not merely gifts but expressions of love and encouragement that made them feel valued and appreciated.

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Those who grew up in the area could bear me witness. I can vividly remember the excitement whenever Alhaji Tijjani came out in the morning or afternoon on his way to his daily routine. Children would eagerly and joyously gather around him, knowing that he would never send them away empty-handed. Because of this remarkable generosity to the children, they affectionately gave him the nickname “Mai Raba Kwandala Kwandala,” meaning “the man who shared coins.” It was a title born out of admiration for his habit of distributing small denominations of the Nigerian naira to every boy or girl he met.

Today, Alhaji Tijjani Rabiu (Spikin) remains a shining example of how kindness, generosity, and good neighbourliness can leave a lasting impact on a community, especially in the minds of the children who have now become youths and stakeholders in society. His legacy is reflected not only in the lives he has touched but also in the fond memories cherished by generations of children who experienced his compassion firsthand.

May Almighty Allah (SWT) continue to bless Alhaji Tijjani Rabiu and his entire family abundantly. May He increase him in wealth, grant him sound health, strengthen him in Iman (faith), protect him from all harm, and reward his kindness with His endless mercy in this world and in the Hereafter. Ameen.

Mudassir can be reached via:
mudassiray@gmail.com

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Opinion

Arewa Media Summit:Big Promises, Little Substance-Tijjani Sarki 

Published

1 day ago

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July 10, 2026

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Tijjani Sarki

I was genuinely amazed that the inaugural Arewa Media Summit ended with a communique. For an event presented as a defining conversation on media, governance and accountability in Northern Nigeria, the silence was difficult to understand. It was only after analysts and observers questioned the omission that a comprehensive communiqué eventually emerged.

I have read the document carefully. It is professionally written, politically appealing and rich in democratic vocabulary. Unfortunately, it is also painfully short on substance.

Beyond the impressive language, there is no implementation framework, no timelines, no measurable targets and no independent mechanism to ensure that its resolutions become reality. That is not how transformational policy conversations are measured. It is how public relations documents are often written.

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Even more disappointing is what the communiqué failed to confront. The media space in Arewa is under siege, not only from misinformation but from increasing political manipulation. Today, media platforms are too often deployed to inflame unnecessary controversies, deepen divisions, promote personality cults, settle political scores and manufacture enemies instead of advancing public enlightenment and good governance. This dangerous trend deserved to be the centrepiece of the summit, yet it received only passing attention.

If the gathering truly sought to reshape the future of media in Northern Nigeria, it should have produced practical strategies to strengthen investigative journalism, protect editorial independence, support indigenous media institutions and insulate the media from political capture.

Arewa does not need another annual media jamboree with polished speeches and elegant communiqués. It needs a platform that speaks truth to power, promotes professional journalism, unites rather than divides our people, and produces measurable reforms. Until then, many will continue to question whether this summit advanced the public interest or merely refined the language of political communication.

Tijjani Sarki
Good Governance Advocate and Public Policy Analyst

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Opinion

IDP Is More Than A Humanitarian Case-Ekanem Joan

Published

2 days ago

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July 10, 2026

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By
EKANEM JOAN

When discussions about Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) arise, attention often turns to numbers and relief packages. Yet behind every statistic is a family that has lost a home, a child whose education has been disrupted, and a community torn apart by conflict. While compensation may replace damaged structures, it cannot restore the memories, dignity, and sense of belonging that displacement takes away.

Recompensation does not make it fine; How do you compensate a child staring at the fire and iron as it takes their lands, while uniforms hang up in a room? How do you price the memory of a mother who once called these lands home. She cuddled her children and the savoury flavour of meals each smiles on her family’s faces, or, the men who spent decades building a life, a family, a shelter, only to watch unconventional disasters take it away. The youths! With their lives sketched on a rough map, all gone – indefinitely. IDPs are just victims of a conflict or a humanitarian crisis waiting to be part of a scheme but humans with lives.

Nigeria is transitioning into durable solutions and we must remind the policy makers that a house is not merely a structure to be replaced but a sanctuary that has been entirely erased, some are memories. These compensations do not weigh the emotional fabric of what has been torn away. At first, it was a crisis to put an end to but then the plan changed, by the end of year 2023, statistics recorded by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to about 1.1 million IDPs (approximately 1,134,828 persons) with 50.3% below 18 years old and 49.7% above 18 years old. The same year saw 81.2% Boko Haram insurgency, 1.6% banditry and 16.2% herder clashes. This crisis was most prominent in the North-West region. The issue was worsening, leading to a humanitarian disaster and as the years grew the IDP numbers rose to 3.5 million persons.

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This rise in persons is alarming. An increase of 2.4 million estimated is not fine. Compensation is not enough! as the number of internally displaced persons increased the government shifted its focus from protection and curbing the disaster to putting infrastructure in place. These infrastructures included the 2025 financial injection and the African Union Convention for Protection and Assistance of IDPs into law to provide food and shelter (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). The policy makers have decided to place these infrastructures but numbers alone cannot capture the true weight of internal displacement. Statistics do not feel hunger, do not grieve the sudden loss of an ancestral home, and do not carry the psychological weight of an uncertain tomorrow.

The last IDP count done in 2026 by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees shows total displaced persons as over 3.7 million. The causes still remain armed insurgency, farmer-herder conflicts, banditry and climate change across the affected regions including the North-East, Middle Belt and North-West (Borno, Zamfara, Sokoto and Benue).
87% of the IDPs live below the international poverty line and 60% face high levels of food insecurity, close to decades of displacement leads to limited access to healthcare and schooling. How do we fight a problem without digging out its roots. Across Nigeria millions of Nigerians have lost their land, homes and monuments of memories because of armed conflicts, terrorism, communal clashes, flooding and other disasters.
This does not end in loss of structures but lives too. Imagine a mother who carried a child for 9 months – nurtured and bred, that child wasted! or a father who struggled to give a child all that is needed to watch his own flesh and blood lay on the floor, lifeless.

Displacement hits the most vulnerable demographics hardest. Children are exposed to interrupted education and emotional distress or what about gender-based violence? The uncertainty and emotional weight of being displaced in your own country, your own land.

The Government must address the security gap. There must be increased, professionalized, and transparent security presence in vulnerable regions to prevent the “unconventional disasters” that turn citizens into refugees in their own country. Banditry and herder-farmer clashes are often hyper-local. Success requires empowering local traditional leaders, civil society, and grassroots peace committees to mediate disputes before they escalate into armed conflict.

As the policy makes provision for emergency food, clean water and canvas tents. Yet we know that the deepest wounds of displacement are ones that don’t bleed. Displacement is not just a change of address; it is a sudden, violent fracturing of life, identity and dignity. It is the theft of a person’s yesterday and the total blinding of their tomorrow. The approach is shifting from short term “crisis management” to long term poverty reduction and healing but our main focus should be the roots – reduce or eradicate banditry, set infrastructure to settle communal crisis and provide resources for all citizens, it is not just about moving the CSR to invest in vocational rehabilitation but removing the cause for a better Nigeria.
Fight for IDP and fight for a better Nigeria! It could be you and it could be I. Together we fix this humanitarian crisis.

EKANEM JOAN
200LVL STUDENT OF DEVELOPMENT AND STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION, UNIVERSITY OF ABUJA.
1ST JULY, 2026.

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