What disappointment you get when what you expected to go well rather deteriorates. What’s more sadder is when it involves people or individuals who are in a very good position to solve the matter. How! Isn’t it very saddening that the only body that was formed out of the action of students, who sought a genuine course to see fellow students under the best of conditions every student needs, rather become a ground for litigation?
This group claims leadership of NUGS for the 2018/2019 administrative year
The National Union of Ghana Students, which was formed by students decades back saw students getting reliefs to their problems over the years until recently, when some few students have made their personal interest cloud this objective. Today, NUGS lies in tatters as leadership has year in year out faced crisis. Everytime, there are two different leaderships for NUGS. Today, the saddest news hit me as I found out that, it has now grown to three different leaderships. The more heart breaking aspect is that nothing was heard about these (in relation to the lay Ghanaian student) from aspiration level down to elections and then inauguration. How can one student front have three different leaderships when today’s Ghanaian student knows nothing or very little about it? It will interest you to know that there are a lot of tertiary students (where NUGS is very loud even though the Kindergarten student falls under their purview) know nothing about a group called the ‘National Union of Ghana Students’ which has to to see to their well being.
Another faction claiming leadersip of NUGS for the 2018/2019 administrative year.
And if any student (tertiary student) cares to know, the SRC-dues we pay in our institutions always has percentage-cut that goes to support the works of NUGS. This same National Union of Ghana Students has it strongly stated in its constitution that it is a strictly non-partisan body.
Chapter 1,Article 4(a) of the NUGS constitution says “NUGS is a democratic, non-partisan, independent and progressive Mass Movement of students in Ghana and Ghanaian students abroad.”
Yet still, that is the easiest association it has today. Everyone knows that all of these power struggles is as a result of the infiltration of national partisan politics. It always occurs that there was one faction aligned to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and another aligned to the National Democratic Congress (NDC). With today’s front having three different leaderships, I hear two of them are linked to the NDC whiles one is linked to the NPP. How true is that?
One almost forgets his or herself in this conversation whenever the issue of partisan alignment comes in, as to whether it is true or not, but the point here is ;”NUGS is supposed to be non-partisan”. I’m sure by now the media is even tired of us and this matter. This is so evident to the extent that, in an effort to find out how true the news was, I found no article or news story talking about the fact that there has been elections in the National Union of Ghana Students. We are always going back and forth on this. Students who should know better because history has taught us, rather exchange blows at the premises of these stations that sought to bring this matter to the table for some reasonable conclusions to be met. Who would like to do this back and forth that each and every one knows an amicable conclusion can be met? The last time I was priveleged to attend a NUGS congress meeting, I was down hearted. How that we sat for hours but could not just agree on anything. It was a sordid site to behold. A power struggle that I have known whiles in SHS or before, still holds and has now gotten deeper.
This group also claims to be the leadership of NUGS for 2018/2019 administrative year
So what’s next? Five fronts? If indeed, these factions are aligned the two major political parties but now has three different leaderships (still aligned to either the NPP or NDC) and has two of them at logger-heads but aligned to one of these two political parties, what future lies ahead of this political party? Is Ghana going to see a political future like this? If that is so, then we better start advising ourselves from. By now, NUGS should have been able to deal with the duplicity in student association groups (Blocs).But for the leadership crisis, this problem still persists. The Ghanaian student today has a lot of problems that a properly functioning NUGS should have been able to deal with. Fees are rising unconditionally, quality education is still in the shadows due to some issues that NUGS per its structure could have dealt with through research; School authorities keep on strangling students in many ways that a strong body like NUGS would have been able to deal with. Are these not the reasons why NUGS was formed? Are these not what we pay for with capitation and others? But all we continue getting is deeper cuts in this same body that is supposed to champion the demands and needs of the Ghanaian student. I thought Mr.Kabu Nartey (embattled/co- General Secretary of the 2017/2018 administration) told me that there was a unity agreement ongoing that will see this leadership brouhaha stop. What happened to that?Ghanaian students need to be treated way better than what we are getting now.
It is best we sound this call to all parties claiming leadership of the one NUGS we have that;
- NUGS just like Ghana is no one’s private property
- NUGS is a non-partisan body.
- NUGS is for the same students who know nothing about it.
- Ghanaian students are better off without a union that is not united.
All I want to hear now is for all SRC’s to follow the University of Ghana’s lead in opting out of this association that is run with our monies until proper resolutions are met.
GHANAIAN STUDENTS DESERVE BETTER!!!!!
Letters from a Citizen 