The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, says it is considering introducing a ₦200 annual levy for students, with payment potentially becoming one of the requirements for mobilisation into the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC.
NANS President, Akinteye Babatunde, disclosed this in posts and a video shared on social media while explaining the association’s plans to improve its finances and become less dependent on student union governments and government officials.
Babatunde said NANS was discussing an arrangement with the NYSC that could require students to present evidence of payment of the association’s dues before being mobilised for camp.
He said, “We will be working with NYSC and one of the criteria to be mobilised for camp is NANS dues receipt.”
However, he clarified that the proposed annual payment would be only ₦200 and was not intended to impose a significant financial burden on students.
“This is not an avenue to stress the students further because the due is as low as 200 Naira per student in a year,” he said.
The NANS president explained that the proposed arrangement would enable the association to collect its dues directly from students instead of depending on student union governments and school authorities.
According to him, the association has struggled to receive adequate funds from student unions, which he claimed had weakened its ability to represent students and intervene in cases affecting them.
“We are considering moving from getting the due to capitation to get it to have a platform where we can get it directly from students,” Babatunde said.
He alleged that between 80 and 90 per cent of student union governments no longer had full control over the dues collected from students, claiming that some institutions released only a portion of the funds to the unions.
Babatunde cited the University of Benin as an example, alleging that the institution’s management restricted the student union’s access to its funds after the union opposed an increase in school fees.
“One of the ways to cripple the organisation is to make it lack funds, to be short of funds,” he said.
He maintained that NANS had continued to respond to students’ needs despite its financial difficulties, including visiting campuses and intervening in emergencies involving students.
The NANS leader argued that students who expect the organisation to effectively represent their interests should also contribute to its upkeep.
“How can you feel the impact correctly, if you are not putting your money where your mouth is? This is an organisation for all of us,” he said.
Babatunde also said greater financial independence would enable NANS to challenge government agencies when necessary without being financially dependent on politicians or public officials.
He said, “How do you want people to run to politicians or government to seek their support and when they have issues with the agencies, they still want to stand and fight those agencies?”
Under the proposed arrangement, NANS plans to work with agencies connected to students to establish a platform for direct payment of the dues.
“We are going towards [agencies] to cooperate with to get this due directly to the organisation, no more to the management, no more to the SUGs, but directly to the organisation,” Babatunde said.
He added that the association would amend its laws and develop proposals to give the new funding arrangement the necessary institutional backing.
“We are going to amend our laws, we are going to have different proposals and see how we will start getting our due directly to the organisation,” he said.
Babatunde said NANS had received thousands of complaints from students and needed stronger financial capacity to respond to them.
“When I speak to you, I have about 3,000, 4,000 emails of student complaints… genuine complaints,” he said.
He further explained that the association had spent money responding to emergencies, including cases involving kidnapped students and accidents involving its buses.
“Where are those money coming from? Organisation that does not have dues,” he asked.
The NANS president stressed that the proposed payment system was primarily aimed at making the association financially independent and strengthening its ability to advocate for students.
“This is not to pressure the student, it is just about doing the right thing that is necessary, so that the other organisation can also be independent, so that the organisation can also stand on its own and do things properly,” he said.
While the proposal suggests a possible connection between payment of NANS dues and NYSC mobilisation, no details have been provided on when or how such a requirement would be implemented.
The NYSC has its own statutory eligibility and mobilisation procedures, meaning any additional requirement would need to be formally established before it could become an official condition for mobilisation.
