Olusegun Ariyo
The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has advised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to hesitate to find help beyond his administration and party if he is overwhelmed by the current socio-economic challenges facing Nigeria.
The student body added that if the president has no solution to the country’s economic hardship, particularly hunger, then the administration should not be ashamed of even seeking help from members of opposition parties.
The Clerk of the Senate, NANS headquarters, Abdul-Yekinn Odunayo, stated this over the weekend in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Odunayo stressed that the situation of the country has become worse and is strangulating citizens, hence, the need for the Tinubu-led administration to look for urgent solutions.
He noted that students across the country have been seriously affected by the hardship, pointing out that Nigerians, especially the students are tired of receiving “insufficient food items” being distributed as palliatives by the administration.
Odunayo urged the president not to limit his searches for answers to Nigeria’s challenges to his cabinet members or members of his party, emphasizing that “nothing is stopping Mr President from consulting the egg heads in the opposition parties for solutions to the harsh and suffocating economic situation in Nigeria”.
He said, “The economic situation is becoming precarious day by day and it seems the president and his team lack the solutions to the economic challenges confronting the nation and pressing down on the people. As a leader and president who wants the country to move forward and surmount the current situation, he should not hesitate or be mortified to seek help from his government and his party.
“As a national body of students in the country, we believe there are intelligent and economic gurus who are members of the opposition parties. The president can consult covertly or woo overtly and tap from their fountain of knowledge.
“To say the truth, Nigerians are hungry and angry. Students are not also impervious to the tempest of hardship blowing across the nation. Therefore, we urge Mr President not to only think out of the box, but consult and woo anyone with a magic box, irrespective of his or her political leaning, to save the country from economic depression.
“If all hands must be on the deck to move Nigeria forward, President Tinubu must find capable hands beyond party affiliation and engage them for the benefit, development, growth and economic prosperity of Nigeria and Nigerians”, he submitted.
