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The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has charged President Goodluck Jonathan to set up a committee that will ensure the proper implementation of the mandate of the Education Trust Fund (ETF), just as it commended the president for signing the ETF amendment bill into law.
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The out-going president of (NANS), Comrade Jude Imagwe, expressed confidence in the ability of the federal government in tackling the hydra-headed challenges in the sector, as indicated by the signing of the bill into law.
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?He said, “Some of us are going to watch keenly how this fund is put to use, because the academic environment is such that we cannot abandon it. Approval of money has not always been the problem, rather how it is used and implementation has been the challenge. We want to charge Mr. President that just as he has made approval of such, he should further set up a committee of trusted persons that will see to the use of public funds for the benefit of the people.
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“I equally want to state very clearly that our management should not be exonerated from being monitored in the implementation of the fund and Nigerian students should equally ask questions on how these funds are used. ??
?“With the signing into law, it is not yet uhuru. We must ensure that government abides by the social and corporate responsibilities of governance in the educational sector. ?Mr President by this has demonstrated further that our support for him has not been forgotten and that the promises he made about the educational sector have just begun.
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“We believe that as a father and a product of our educational sector, he is going to throw his weight behind educational policies that bring about a standard that everybody will be proud of. It is unfortunate that Nigerians are running to neighbouring Ghana in the pursuit of education, but with this, we are looking at a situation where people will be running to Nigeria to seek for quality education, which will be a credit to the government.
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“It is also worthy to note that with the signing of the ETF into law, it will be saddled with the development of education at the tertiary level, by providing facilities that will meet with modern standards as is obtainable in developed societies; the creation of a conducive academic environment, infrastructural development and expansion of lecture halls and laboratory equipment for researchers,” he added.