The National Association of Nigerian Students(NANS) has decried the general rising cost of goods and services in the country, saying the development is not what the students and generality of Nigerians bargained for from President Bola Tinubu-led government.
The students’ body said economic hardship in the country is increasingly taking a huge toll on them and their parents and should be addressed urgently to reverse the ugly narrative otherwise they may resort to mass nationwide protest.
The students gave this narrative in a statement signed by the association’s Senate President, Babatunde Akinteye, on Monday, noting that the galloping inflation, which is daily pushing up general prices of goods and services, has threatened their studies, ambitions and education generally.
According to them, the high cost of dollars and other major foreign currencies as well as general goods and services including educational materials, tuition fees, transportation and feeding has made life almost unbearable for them and other ordinary Nigerians.
They said they are faced with severe hunger coupled with the high cost of transportation and high level of insecurity in the country.
They therefore urged President Tinubu and the Central Bank of Nigeria to rise to this occasion and find workable solutions to stabilise the Naira and improve its value.
They also urged the government to come up with the right policies and programmes that can effectively halt inflation and boost the economy while in the interim they should be given palliatives.
According to them, the palliatives should be given to them directly pending when the economy will be improved.
“We want the palliatives to start immediately and the government should also commit to our welfare so as not to push us to the streets for protest before it takes action to address the hardship,” they concluded.