Students from all tertiary institutions in Anambra State, under the umbrella of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), have pledged support for the second-term ambitions of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo.
The students, numbering over 50,000, have been mobilized to back both leaders, with NANS urging colleagues still “sitting on the fence” to join the campaign, stressing that their re-election would have a multiplier effect on Nigeria’s education sector.
The immediate past NANS Chairman in Anambra, Comrade Okoye Matthew Okpara, made the announcement during his official handover ceremony to the new leadership, held at the Students’ Union Government conference halls of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, on Friday.
Okpara said the unanimous support was aimed at enabling Tinubu and Soludo to complete their developmental plans for both Anambra State and Nigeria.
“We are throwing our weight behind President Tinubu and Governor Soludo’s re-election bid because the political parties they represent APC and APGA are both progressive in nature,” he said.
He praised President Tinubu’s achievements in just two years in office, particularly the launch of the Digital Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), which, according to him, has removed financial barriers to higher education for Nigerian students.
On Governor Soludo, Okpara vowed that students would ensure “no other political party contesting with him wins” in the November 8 governorship election, citing the governor’s “One Youth, Two Skills” empowerment programme, recruitment of over 8,000 teachers, and extensive road construction across all 179 communities in the state as proof of impactful governance.
He congratulated his successor, urging him to sustain peace, unity, and cooperation among students across all tertiary institutions in the state.
Okpara also used the occasion to appeal to Nigerian students to embrace faith in Jesus Christ and shun cultism and other vices that could ruin their future and that of the country.
