The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has condemned the sack of 13 Vice Chancellors across the country, giving a 14-day ultimatum to the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu to reinstate the Vice Chancellors who were improperly removed from office by the federal government in February.

National President of the students’ body, Comrade Tijani Usman Shehu in a letter to the Minister of Education, dated April 27, 2016, explained that the ultimatum became necessary following the failure of the minister to take advantage of the window of negotiation provided by Nigerian students to resolve the issue.

In the letter titled “NANS Demands Immediate Reinstatement of the Vice Chancellors of 13 Federal Universities Within 14 Days,” the students said the refusal of the minister to recall the sacked Vice Chancellors as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari was nothing but, “A bald-faced attempt to politicise our universities and arrest academic progression by the jugular and we have vowed to stiffly resist this.”

 “You (minister) will at this point heed our call for the reinstatement of the hitherto sacked 13 Vice Chancellors within 14 days of this notice or face the full wrath of the Nigerian students.”

The student’s body said if their demands were not met within the stipulated time frame, it would interpret it as an invitation for the Nigerian students to occupy the minister’s office and demand for his immediate resignation.”

The students said they are perplexed and perturbed by the minister daring action that defied the voice of stakeholders in the sector as well as the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari by vehemently refusing to do the needful, noting that, “Your actions at this juncture in sticking to your guns on the sack of the Vice Chancellors make the perception clearer that you took all these actions to favour your personal interests.”