Students of tertiary institutions of Anambra State origin
have commended the state governor, Chief Willie Obiano for a crime free
yuletide in the state, which they said have brought back the confidence of the
people of the state who reside in the diaspora.
The Students made the commendation through a communiqué
drawn after a stakeholders meeting, and issued to journalists, said last year’s
yuletide was the most peaceful and secured in the history of the state since
the coming of kidnapping.
They said that before now, sons and daughters of the state
were always afraid of returning home because of the fear of being kidnapped,
but with the measures put in place by the governor, not even a single case of
kidnapping or armed robbery was registered during the yuletide.
They also called on the state governor to revive the Anambra
State Scholarship and Bursary Board, whch they said has become moribund, and
was last operated decades back, saying that it is shameful that scholarships
are almost inexistent in the state any longer.
They stated that the payment of bursary will help ameliorate
the plight of students of the state who are in various tertiary institutions
across the country, and have been experiencing hardship.
The students, speaking under the aegis of National Union of
Anambra State Students(NUASS) which consists of over 15,000 registered students
of tertiary institutions across the country insisted that Anambra is a pacesetter
state, yet it falls under states that have not been paying bursary to its
students.
According to the national president of the association,
Comrade John Paul Atuanya, the Anambra Scholarship and bursary board will help
to provide accurate data of Anambra Students who are in tertiary institutions,
and also help in fishing out students who have excelled in their studies for
rewards and other forms of scholarship.
The communiqué which was signed by the current president of
NUASS, Atuanya, Immediate past president of the group, Comrade Israel Anozie
and other officers, all of who traveled from various institutions across the
country to attend the meeting commended the governor for his achievements in
the state so far.
“We in NUASS want to acknowledge that the governor, Chief
Willie Obiano has done a lot in the area of Education, and this can be seen in
the excellent performances of students of the state in external examinations, and
competitions where the state has been winning laurels.
“We also applaud his achievements in the area of security.
Unlike before, we have just witnessed one of the best Christmas celebration
ever, devoid of armed robbery and kidnapping. And for the first time, our
people were able to come home and spend Christmas without fear.” They wrote.
They also drew the attention of the governor to the non
existence of a functional secretariat of the union, which has also remained a hindrance
to the galvanizing of its members, just as the union is now run on the bags of
its executives.
The stakeholders also stated that part of what dominated its
discussion was the forthcoming general election of the union, which they said
is still being fine-tuned by its electoral committee.
