The National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS), founded in 1956, was the association of Nigerian students at home and abroad. NUNS was a member of the West African Students’ Union (WASU), founded in 1925 by Ladipo Solanke and Herbert Bright Bankole. The union actively opposed government policies on many issues relating to the education system in Nigeria, the rights of students in Nigeria and many others. In April 1978, the National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS) participated extensively in a series of protests on university campuses across the country against rising tuition fees. More than two dozen students were seriously injured and killed by police and the army dispersing the protesters Students. As a result, the federal military government closed three universities and banned nuns. Several students and officers were later released.
In 1980, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) was formed to replace the banned nuns. Two years earlier, in May 1986, police had killed more than fifteen Ahmadu Bello University students during a demonstration commemorating “Ali Must Go Day” (Ali was then Minister of Defense and Education). The murdered were organized by students. during the 1979 protests. This led to the closure of nine out of fifteen universities in Nigeria due to FGM. The National Association of Nigerian Students was also banned in 1986 following student unrest that demanded the resignation of the government and some police officers.
