The newly elected leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) will meet the Nigerian government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to end the eight-month-old strike by university lecturers.

The new NANS President, Comrade Umar Barambu, disclosed this during an exclusive interview with SaharaReporters on Saturday.

Barambu, a student of Economics and Development Studies of the Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa State, was declared the NANS President on Saturday.

He got 292 votes to defeat his nearest rival, Umar Farouk Lawan, who scored only 8 votes.

According to Barambu, the aim of the meeting is to find a middle ground for an amicable solution to ensure that students in public universities return to school.

ASUU went on strike on February 14 over the government’s failure to honor agreements signed by both parties.

The lecturers’ demands include the revival of public universities, payment of earned academic grants and the deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) for the payment of university lecturers’ salaries.

“My administration will ensure peaceful coexistence and uninterrupted academic activities in all tertiary institutions in the country,” he told SaharaReporters.

Barambu also said NANS will fight against victimization of student leaders and activists on campuses.

He said the new leadership of the student association will build strategic partnership with development organizations to ensure that students on campuses enjoy better welfare in terms of ICT, Smart Campus, and access to resources for research and academic productivity.

The new NANS president has warned Nigerians to be wary of an impostor posing as the leader of the organisation.