By Peace Erewunmi

The call by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, for the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and other student leaders to mobilise 10 million votes for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 election has generated an important conversation about the relationship between politics and Nigeria’s student community.

Alausa made the call while meeting with NANS and other student representatives in Abuja, arguing that Nigerian students have a direct stake in the outcome of the 2027 election because government policies affect their education, skills, employment opportunities and future prospects.

There is nothing wrong with students participating actively in democracy.

In fact, they should.

Students are citizens. They have the right to vote, engage politically, support candidates and demand accountability from government.

But there is an important distinction between encouraging young people to participate in elections and asking a national student body to deliver a specific number of votes to a particular politician.

That distinction matters.

NANS exists to represent the interests and welfare of Nigerian students. Its leadership should therefore be careful not to allow student advocacy to become merely an extension of partisan political mobilisation.

If the government believes its education policies deserve the support of students, then the strongest argument should be the results those policies are producing.

The administration has pointed to initiatives such as NELFUND, student accommodation, technical and vocational education, campus infrastructure and the Student Venture Capital Grant as evidence of its investment in students. The government says more than 1.6 million students have benefited from NELFUND and that significant funding has been committed to accommodation and TVET infrastructure.

Those achievements should be presented to students.

But students should still be allowed to make their own political decisions.

Interestingly, during the same engagement, NANS raised concerns about federal scholarships, illegal admissions and accreditation problems affecting students. These are precisely the kinds of issues student leaders should be pressing government to resolve.

This is where the conversation should become more meaningful.

Instead of simply asking, “How many votes can students deliver?”, perhaps the bigger question should be:

What will government deliver to students before 2027?

Will students have better access to affordable education?

Will scholarship delays be eliminated?

Will universities and other tertiary institutions maintain stable academic calendars?

Will students stop graduating from programmes that later turn out to have accreditation problems?

Will campuses have reliable electricity, transportation and adequate accommodation?

Will graduates leave school with skills that actually translate into employment and entrepreneurship opportunities?

These are the issues that should shape how students evaluate any administration.

Students are not voting blocs to be counted like numbers on a spreadsheet.

They are citizens with individual opinions, aspirations and frustrations.

If the Tinubu administration wants 10 million student votes, the most effective campaign may not be political mobilisation.

It may simply be performance.

Let students see the impact of the reforms. Let them compare promises with results. Let them ask questions. Let them decide.

NANS can play an important role by educating students about their civic responsibilities, encouraging voter registration and promoting informed political participation.

But the ultimate decision belongs to the individual student at the ballot box.

Ten million votes cannot be commanded. They have to be earned.

And if the government believes its record deserves another four years, then the strongest case it can make is not how many votes NANS can mobilise, but how much better the lives and futures of Nigerian students have become.