The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has proposed an annual ₦200 levy for students and indicated that payment of the dues may eventually become a requirement for students seeking mobilisation for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.
NANS National President, Akinteye Babatunde, disclosed this in a Facebook post and a subsequent video while explaining the association’s financial challenges and plans to change how its dues are collected.
Babatunde had earlier stated that NANS planned to work with the NYSC and that students might be required to provide evidence of payment before being 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 shared on Monday, Babatunde explained that the association was considering a direct payment system that would allow NANS to collect its annual dues from students rather than depending on student union governments (SUGs) and school managements.
He said the proposed levy was only ₦200 per student annually and was not intended to create an additional financial burden.
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 explained that the dues would be distributed across NANS structures, including its zonal and state bodies as well as affiliated student organisations.
According to him, the association has struggled in recent years to receive expected capitation from student union governments, affecting its financial capacity.
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 between 80 and 90 per cent of student union governments were no longer fully in control of their dues, claiming that some institutions release only a portion of the funds collected to student unions.
He argued that the situation had weakened NANS financially and limited its ability to intervene effectively in matters affecting students.
Babatunde cited the University of Benin as an example, alleging that the institution’s management frustrated the student union government’s access to its dues after the union opposed an increase in school fees.
He said, “One of the ways to cripple the organisation is to make it lack funds, to be short of funds.”
Despite the financial difficulties, Babatunde said NANS had continued to visit campuses and intervene in student-related matters.
He argued, however, that students should also contribute financially if they expect the organisation to remain effective.
Babatunde said, “How can you feel the impact correctly, if you are not putting your money where your mouth is? This is an organisation for all of us.”
He also maintained that NANS needed to become financially independent from government officials, politicians and other individuals whose financial support could potentially affect the association’s ability to challenge government agencies when necessary.
He said, “How do you want people to run to politicians or government to seek their support and when they have issues with the agencies, they still want to stand and fight those agencies?”
To achieve this, Babatunde said NANS was considering working with agencies and institutions connected to students to establish a system for collecting the ₦200 dues directly.
He said, “We are going towards [agencies] to cooperate with to get this due directly to the organisation, no more to the management, no more to the SUGs, but directly to the organisation.”
Babatunde added that NANS would amend its laws and develop proposals to provide the proposed payment structure with the necessary institutional backing.
He acknowledged that the changes might not have their full impact during the current administration but argued that they would strengthen the organisation for future leadership.
He said, “We are going to amend our laws, we are going to have different proposals and see how we will start getting our due directly to the organisation.”
The NANS president further disclosed that the association had received thousands of complaints from students, stressing that stronger finances were needed to respond to such cases.
He said, “When I speak to you, I have about 3,000, 4,000 emails of student complaints… genuine complaints.”
He also said NANS had previously spent money responding to emergencies involving students, including cases of kidnapping, while the organisation had incurred additional expenses from accidents involving its buses.
He said, “Where are those money coming from? Organisation that does not have dues.”
Although Babatunde’s comments suggest that NANS is considering linking payment of its dues to the NYSC mobilisation process, he did not provide details on how such an arrangement would work or when it could take effect.
The NYSC has its own statutory eligibility and mobilisation procedures, meaning any NANS dues requirement would have to be formally agreed upon and established before it could become an official condition for mobilisation.
Babatunde maintained that the proposed direct-payment system was primarily aimed at making NANS financially independent and strengthening its ability to advocate for Nigerian students.
He said, “This is not to pressure the student, it is just about doing the right thing that is necessary, so that the other organisation can also be independent, so that the organisation can also stand on its own and do things properly.”
