The National Association of University Students (NAUS) has condemned the scarcity of premium motor spirit, fuel, in some states of Federation, vowing to mobilize its members for a nationwide protest if the Federal fails to speedily resolve the issues around the non-availability of the product.
NAUS President, Comrade Marshall Obaji, in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, lamented that the fuel scarcity has further worsen the pains and hardships students across the country were already going through because of the current economic crisis.
He called on government at all levels and other critical stakeholders to come together with the aim of addressing the issues bedeviling the petroleum sector, and to put an end to scarcity of fuel as well as price instability in the country
Part of the statement read: “The leadership of the National Association of University Students NAUS wishes to communicate its disenchantment at the scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS/Fuel) around the country, which has led to an increase in the hardship faced by students studying across Nigerian universities.
“In our day-to-day life, we are either direct or indirect users of fuel, and its scarcity affects us more because we are at the stage where attention needs to be given to our studies in order to leave us equipped and prepared for life and society.
“The scarcity of PMS has affected the academic, social, and financial lives of university students, and indeed this is a dangerous reality for our country.
“NAUS, therefore, demands that the Federal Government and the NNPC address this challenge, in order to ameliorate the sufferings of the students or be prepared for a nationwide protest across all 36 states of the Federation, including the FCT,” it stated.
The NAUS President also urged state and local governments to make provision for palliative measures to University students in their respective domains, stating that students also constitute a huge part of society and should always be carried along in such developments.
“We also call on state and local governments to provide palliative measures and materials for university students in their respective domains or catchments to ameliorate the pains and hardship faced by students across Nigerian Universities.
“Students are part and parcel of society, they are the immediate future on whose shoulders the survival of society rests, and therefore, they deserve attention, care, and a responsive government to enable them prepare for leadership and a life of opportunities,” Obaji added.
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