Vice President Kashim Shettima has said Nigerian students must have a voice in national decision-making and should be regarded as stakeholders in the country's present, not merely its future.

Receiving national student leaders at the State House Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, he said the Tinubu administration is determined to stop recurring strikes from disrupting the academic calendar, through reforms in education financing, student welfare and engagement with lecturers.

He described the student loan programme as one of the administration's most consequential interventions in education, saying it has helped many students remain in school and eased the financial burden on parents.

Shettima said the appointment of Hon. Sunday Asefon Dayo as Senior Special Assistant to the President on Students' Engagement was part of efforts to strengthen ties between the government and students. He also urged the student leaders to engage the government honestly, even when they disagree with its policies.

"A government that hears only applause deprives itself of the knowledge required to serve," he said.

Earlier, the President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Akinteye Afeez, said students would mobilise for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's re-election at the 2027 polls. He said a National Election Mobilisation Committee has been set up to mobilise 10 million votes across the six geopolitical zones, and praised the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as having made education accessible.

Leaders of the National Association of University Students, the National Association of Polytechnic Students and the National Association of Nigerian Colleges of Education Students were also present.