A Press release by Comrade Nazir Abdulsalam, the National President, National Association of Ebira Students (NAES) – National Secretariat on 10th December, 2016.
“ A ‘no ‘ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble. You must be the change you wish to see in the world” So said Mahatma Gandhi.
Basically, joining issues with people who are bent on coarseness is what I hardly do but on this particular occasion, I am compelled to write this in order to set the record straight.
My attention has been drawn to the unholy conspiracies in the apex student body in kogi state – NAKOSS. These range from monumental ineptitude, financial mismanagement, prosecutorial excesses and abuse of public trust. This trend has been persistent with NAKOSS struggle which has rendered the association incapacitated to fulfill the ideals of its founding principles – enacting the spirit of trust and unionism among her members.
The most recent one is a case where a president is alleged to have sold the association bus unilaterally. He did that effortlessly without the full knowledge of the National executive council or a legit approval of the parliament. Although, he claimed to have executed that with the consent of few ‘stakeholders’.
Whatever his intention maybe, the president owed the entire students of kogi state an explanation over the sale of ‘our bus’ – why was it sold? How the money was spent and under whose interest? It is in Akiti’s best interest to speak out and provide answers for the aforementioned questions and more.
There is no way we can get to the root of the matter without hearing Akiti’s side of the story because his name has become a recurring decimal in sales of association vehicles. Some alleged that, this is the third time he has disposed of NAKOSS vehicle. But how do we know whether or not all these allegations are true; this is why silence is not golden for Akiti at this period. Instead of the show of shame and embarrassment you labeled ‘communique’ jointly signed by cartel you called executive and sanctioned by equally myopic ‘stakeholders’. To add salt to injury, calling a man of wherewithal and a track record of responsiveness, an incompetent SA on the ground of not facilitating some presidential official vehicle and 3 million naira promised by the state government is absurd.
He wasn’t incompetent when he facilitated your courtesy call to the governor that yielded the luxurious vehicle you now cruise at will, he wasn’t incompetent when he successfully channelled a state subvention fund of 200 thousand naira monthly to NAKOSS and other sisters components. But now he simply asked for the judicious management of the association’s funds and properties, he finally became incompetent. What a twisted world! And thus begs the question however, who is really incompetent? Please Ibro should speak out or the necessary authority should invite him.
The era of impunity is over, the new direction, youths and students friendly government of Yahaya Bello represents transparency, accountability and exhibits zero tolerance for corruption. It is no longer business as usual. As students – especially those of us at the helm of affairs, we are supposed to exhibit discipline, a bit of character and caution ourselves well enough to prepare us feed positively back to the entire system, that is the essence of unionism after all.
The stakeholders, with all due respects, we acknowledge your struggle towards the sustenance of NAKOSS, NAES, NAOS, ISA, and the rest. But then, you are almost overstaying your relevance as your persistent presence in the struggle is already creating a generational gap for the upcoming ones. The concept of stakeholdership in NAKOSS is almost molding to god-fatherism. This is what the honourable SA to the governor, Comrade MD Eseyin is trying to curtail, as it doesn’t correlate with the new direction blueprint of his Excellency. Stakeholders or college of past leadership of NAKOSS should steer clear and allow the students to chose who governs them. They should settle for advisory role and constructive criticism as your experiences are still highly relevant, that is what state men do. NAKOSS belongs to the students, let’s take it back!
Speaking of lingering protest, let me be categorically precise about this, no genuine Ebira student and to a large extent kogi state students will stoop so low to join the protest. What are we agitating for? So any attempted protest will suffer resistance.
Signed.
The National President,
National secretariat,
National Association Of Ebira Students.
