The National Association of Nigerian Students has hinted that payment of its proposed annual ₦200 dues may become a requirement for students seeking mobilisation for the National Youth Service Corps scheme.
The NANS National President, Akinteye Babatunde, disclosed this in a Facebook post on Sunday and Monday while discussing the organisation’s finances and plans to change how its dues are collected.
Babatunde had earlier said NANS would work with the NYSC, and that students might need proof of payment of the association’s dues to be mobilised for camp.
He wrote, “We will be working with NYSC and one of the criteria to be mobilised for camp is NANS dues receipt.”
However, in a video posted on Monday, Babatunde explained that the association was considering a system that would allow it to collect its dues directly from students rather than relying on student union governments and institutional managements.
He said the annual dues were only ₦200 per student.
According to him, the proposed system was not intended to place an additional financial burden on students but to ensure that NANS had the resources needed to operate independently and represent students effectively.
He said, “This is not an avenue to stress the students further because the due is as low as 200 Naira per student in a year, 200 Naira one year per student.”
Babatunde said the dues were meant to be distributed among the various structures of NANS, including the zonal level, state structures and affiliated student bodies.
He explained that the organisation had struggled to receive its expected capitation from student union governments in recent years.
He said, “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.”
The NANS president alleged that about 80 to 90 per cent of student union governments were no longer in control of their dues, claiming that some institutions released only a fraction of the money collected to their student unions.
He said this had weakened NANS financially and affected its ability to intervene in student-related issues.