Following the continued closure of schools across the country due to COVID-19, the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has alleged that the Federal Government is hiding under the guise of pandemic to deny children of the masses the right to education.
Addressing a press conference in Kano on Monday, the Secretary General of the association (Zone A), Abdullahi Saleh, said that the continuous closure of schools would plunge the future of the country into a sorry state.
According to him, some countries with higher rates of infections than Nigeria had considered reopening their educational institutions.
He expressed dismay over the government decision to lift suspension on air travels, viewing centers, eateries and market and even plans to conduct elections, without considering reopening the schools.
Mr Saleh, therefore, described the situation as “a sheer insensitivity and callousness exhibited by the government to its younger generation”.
While expressing concern that some pupils and students are already mixing up with bad elements in the society, Mr Saleh lamented that the continued closure of schools might lead to an increase in the number of out-of-school children in most parts of the country.
“Some of those they mingle with are drug addicts who can easily influence them negatively. This is of great concern to us.
“We are worried. While governments are trying to reduce the number of out-of-school children, others are probably going to join them,” he said.
The Zone A of the association, comprising Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Niger, Kaduna, Gombe and Buchi states, however, called on the federal government to stop beating around the bush and disclose the date in which the schools would be reopened.
