Ogun: NANS, NAOSS lambaste Gov Abiodun over N25,000 COVID-19 test fee for students

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and the National Association of Ogun State Students (NAOSS) have called out the Governor Dapo Abiodun-led administration/government for requesting students in boarding schools to pay N25,000 for COVID-19 test.

The students’ bodies described the Ogun State government under Abiodun as, “not only being insensitive to the plights of the parents, but also callous for formulating such an anti-people policy.”

The students bodies said they, “condemned the decision of the State government to subject parents of students in private boarding schools to pay N25,000 for a COVID-19 test before they can be admitted into schools to write their Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE).”

In a statement jointly signed by the National President of NAOSS, Oluwagbemileke Ogunrombi and the Chairman of NANS, Ogun Joint Campus Committee, Tomiwa Bamgbose in Abeokuta on Monday, the students’ bodies also berated the Special Adviser to Gov Abiodun on Primary and Secondary Education, Mrs Ronke Soyombo; accusing her of incompetence, insensitivity through what they described as an anti-people policy.

While calling on Abiodun to call Soyombo to order, they said she had allowed the State to be subjected to ridicule in the eyes of the entire world.

The statement reads in part: “For government to levy such an outrageous fee on parents at this period of economic downturn is not only insensitive but also inhumane.

“Many parents have lost their means of livelihood as a result of the economic hardships caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is therefore unreasonable and unacceptable for government to further compound the woes of the parents by charging them an exorbitant fee of N25,000 for a test before their children could be allowed back to school to write their exams.

“We strongly condemn this anti-people policy, and we equally want to warn the Governor to be wary of those who he surrounds himself with, because it is now clear that these people are hellbent on bringing down his government through their insensitive and anti-people counsel.

“We hereby demand that the policy be reserved immediately, or we will be forced to take drastic actions.