Student unionists have been told to always seek clarification before lending their voices to political matters.
Director of Campus Intervention, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Oladimeji Uthman, while reacting to statements credited to some students unionists in Ogun State, in which they were calling for the probe of three Senators representing the state in the National Assembly.
Uthman noted that: “Firstly, the self-styled student unionists out of political bias and illiteracy forget that not only the three Senators are members of the National Assembly from Ogun State, but also inclusive of the nine members of the Federal House of Representatives. Members of the State House of Assembly also formed part of the legislators from the state. They jettisoned proper reasoning to justify their tokenism politicking.
“It is also pertinent to note that It is not in the responsibilities of the lawmakers to turn to executors of projects. They, however, can facilitate peoples-oriented projects to their constituency with funding from the executive arm of government. It is saddening that the acclaimed students’ unionists do not understand the basic tenents of the arms of government, and thus, the shameful claims in their publication, a major flop that has caused disrepute on the association.
“From available records, Distinguished Senator Ibikunle Amosun is one of the most active legislators in the Ninth Assembly. He has sponsored over fifteen (15) bills to his credits, among other relief social welfare packages including the COVID-19 relief fund of over N30,000 to thousands of his constituents. He does not miss sittings having met with him on several unscheduled visits to the National Assembly.
“Also, Senator Tolu Odebiyi’s participation in the process of nation-building earned him the membership of the National Assembly ECOWAS Committee. Recently, he launched and gave out several empowerment souvenirs to members of his constituents, marking the start of the year 2022. This is aside from the several interventions to his credit at the national assembly. He has given out scholarships to over 200 indigent students with laptops and mobile gadgets in his constituents in the last 20 months. These are facts and not a fallacy.”
Uthman further stated that: “For anyone in doubt, a visit to Ogun East especially the Akile-Ijebu axis on a fact-finding mission will tell more on the personality of Senator Lekan Mustapha. For his numerous road intervention programmes as social welfare, he is nicknamed MR. ROAD by his people. His performance is noteworthy and impressive and the grassroots have more to say about him. Hundreds of electric transformers have been given out to restore electricity and bring succour to his constituents as well as erosion control in the Ogun East senatorial districts of the state.
“We hereby advise the students’ unionists in the Gateway State to as a matter of importance always seek clarifications, information and basic research before making statements and rushing to the press. Their frivolous and uneducated statement is low, misleading and less expected from student bodies. Their sheer ignorance is shameful and unacceptable to the national leadership of NANS and disreputes on the state itself.”