A group of Nigerian students abroad, known as Awon Akekoo Yoruba Tin Won Wa Loke Okun (Yoruba Students Abroad) has called on Nigerian students and all young people of voting age to refrain from casting their votes for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 14 elections because of what they have described as his “anti-students pedigree”.

According to a statement signed by the President of the Group, Semiu Ajakaiye, it would amount to a terrible mistake if Nigerian students and youths whose educational future were badly compromised by Muhammadu Buhari during his first sojourn as Head of State between 1984 and 1985 to cast their votes for the retired Army General.

Ajakaiye said General Buhari as Head of State laid the foundation for the setbacks that have been witnessed in the country’s education sector when he abolished meal subsidies provided by the government for all students in all federal tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

“Before General Buhari overthrew democratically elected the civilian government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983, Nigerian students in all the universities in the country were enjoying meal subsidies and many other benefits from the government. They were not buying beds and bed sheets. The government was providing this and this helped many indigent students whose parents could not have been able to afford the astronomical fees that we have today,” Ajakaiye said in a statement.

Accusing Buhari of subjecting Nigerian students to untold hardship, he said that General Buhari came to power and stopped these subsidies.

According to Ajakaiye, “He (Buhari) did not care about the young people of yesterday, many of whom are parents of some of us who are students today. What makes anyone think he would have changed and would make lives better for us in his second coming?”

The student leader said the type of president Nigeria needs at this time is not one who would trample on freedoms and blight opportunities for future generations. On the contrary, he said, Nigeria needs a leader who appreciates that the foundations of the future must be laid today and one who has the energy, vision and skill set to inspire this into reality.

“It is almost impossible for us to ask for a return to what our parents have always looked back to as the ‘good old days’. We are not asking for that because Buhari has taken that away from us. But we want a leader who will not deny us the little opportunities that technology and globalisation have provided for us to empower ourselves. Buhari failed us yesterday and he is likely to make things worse should we give him the chance of a return to power,” Ajakaiye stated.

•Photo shows Buhari.