NANS Proposes ₦200 Annual Dues, May Link Payment to NYSC Mobilisation

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has proposed an annual levy of ₦200 for students and indicated that payment of the dues could become part of the requirements for mobilisation for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

NANS National President, Akinteye Babatunde, disclosed this in posts and a video shared on social media while explaining the association’s plans to reform the way it collects funds.

Babatunde said NANS was considering working with the NYSC and other relevant agencies to enable students to pay the proposed dues directly to the association.

He had earlier stated that students could be required to present evidence of payment of their NANS dues before being mobilised for the NYSC orientation camp.

“We will be working with NYSC and one of the criteria to be mobilised for camp is NANS dues receipt,” he said.

However, Babatunde clarified that the proposed annual payment would be only ₦200 per student and was not intended to impose a significant financial burden on students.

According to him, the move is aimed at making NANS financially independent and ensuring that the organisation has sufficient resources to represent students and respond to their challenges.

“This is not an avenue to stress the students further because the due is as low as 200 Naira per student in a year,” he said.

NANS seeks direct collection of dues

Babatunde explained that NANS currently relies largely on student union governments and institutional structures for its expected capitation, but claimed that the system had become ineffective.

He alleged that many student union governments no longer have full control over the dues collected from students, resulting in inadequate funds reaching NANS.

“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,” he said.

He added that the proposed ₦200 would be distributed across various levels of the association, including its zonal and state structures as well as affiliated student bodies.

The NANS president argued that inadequate funding had affected the organisation’s ability to intervene effectively in matters concerning students.

According to him, the association regularly receives complaints from students and spends resources responding to emergencies and other challenges.

Babatunde claimed that NANS had received thousands of student complaints, including cases requiring urgent intervention.

NANS wants financial independence

The NANS president also argued that the association needed to become financially independent to enable it to challenge government institutions and other authorities when necessary.

He questioned how an organisation could effectively advocate for students if it depended on politicians, government officials or other individuals for financial support.

Babatunde said NANS was therefore exploring partnerships with agencies connected to students to establish a system through which the proposed dues could be paid directly to the association rather than through school managements or student unions.

“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,” he said.

He further disclosed that NANS would amend its internal laws and develop proposals to provide the proposed payment system with institutional backing.

However, Babatunde did not provide a specific date for the implementation of the proposed system.

NYSC mobilisation requirement not yet confirmed

While the NANS president suggested that proof of payment of the association’s dues could be linked to NYSC mobilisation, he did not provide evidence that the NYSC has formally adopted the proposal as an official requirement.

The NYSC has its own statutory eligibility and mobilisation procedures. Therefore, any new condition requiring NANS dues payment would need to be formally approved and communicated by the relevant authorities before it could become an official requirement for prospective corps members.

Babatunde maintained that the proposed system was primarily designed to strengthen NANS financially and improve its ability to represent Nigerian students.

He said the initiative was intended to benefit the organisation beyond the tenure of the current leadership by creating a more sustainable funding structure.