NANS urges minister to release panel report on Lagos college

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has urged the Federal Minister of Education, Dr. Morufu Alausa, to release the report of a panel investigating a leadership and welfare crisis at the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Lagos.

The call from NANS, specifically from its Lagos State Joint Campus Council, comes after months of a leadership vacuum and administrative instability at the college. According to a statement from the student body, the institution has been “running on auto-pilot for over 8 months,” leading to a series of problems for students, including:

• Leadership Vacuum: NANS alleges that a leadership crisis, which led to the exit of the former provost, has left the college with a lack of proactive governance.
• Deteriorating Conditions: A recent campus tour by NANS delegations reportedly found evidence of widespread infrastructural decay, poor administration, and growing insecurity.
• Marginalization of Students: NANS claims the college’s management has been sidelining the NCE (National Certificate in Education) students, who are the primary beneficiaries of the institution.
• Administrative Snub: The student body expressed disappointment that its delegation was refused a meeting with key college officials, including the Acting Provost and the Registrar.
• Financial Imposition: NANS has also protested a N10,000 levy imposed on all students to cover damages from a previous unrest, which the student body sees as “collective punishment” that disregards due process.

The student union has stated that the Ministry of Education must intervene and dispatch a neutral, fact-finding team to address the issues. They warned that if the situation is not addressed urgently, it could lead to a “full-blown crisis.”

The demand for the release of the panel report and a swift resolution to the crisis reflects a broader issue in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector, where students’ unions often clash with institutional management over issues of governance, financial transparency, and student welfare.