ASUU STRIKE: IT’S TIME TO UNITE AND BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF EDUCATION
We in the United Action Action for Democracy (UAD) hails the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU) for declaring an indefinite strike on the refusal by the Federal Government to implement the 2009 and 2013 Agreements so far. The fact the strike has been succesful for the past one week shows its massive popularity.
That the FG has openly admitted guilt in the implementation of the agreements so far underscores the real essence of the indefinite strike. If the strike has not been declared, it is sure that the government would never had owned up to being guilty as charged by the strike. The obvious however, is the fact that the current government might admit guilt just like it has been admitting on such other sectors of governance and the economy; the Buhari/APC government would never take change-actualizing actions unless it is forced to!
It must be noted that the FG/ASUU agreements are a part of the structural battle to save Education from its current rots.At all levels, eduaction is in crises as standards and funding have dropped drastically that many privileged Nigerians prefer to school in neigbouring Benin and Ghana instead of even the rampaging private schools littering the nooks and crannies of the country.
These agreements are majorly a product of ASUU and other Education sector union’s concern on the massive undermining of the education sector, especially since the mid-80s when the Babangida regime introduced neo-liberal capitalism in the form of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). That same government as well employed several strategies to undermine the stakeholders in the Education sector and their long concern to make education really the pillar of nation building. That government started the systemic and crude victimisation and destabilisation of both the workers’ and students’ movements in the education sector. The Babangida government notoriously instituted a department of the then State Security Services (SSS) now DSS to undermine and kill the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and such other pan-students and youth organisations like the Patriotic Youths Movement of Nigeria (PYMN) which had earler helped to serve as laboratory to build real students’ leaderships and traditions. Other progressive organisations were also attacked by these anti-education strategists.
The succesive governments have done their crudest in killing students’ and workers’ organisations in order to keep underdeveloping and underfunding the education sector. The current Buhari government is no exception. For the past two years that the Buhari/APC government has been in the saddle; it has dropped the allocation to education from 8% to 5% (2016 budget)! And in the current budget of (non)Recovery; only 5% is allocated to education. Whereas, the same government is allocating greater percentage of the budget to privatised sectors like power; works; housing; transport; and trade. So, the Buhari/APC government will not fund nor develop education untill it is forced to. This is why all sane and progressive minds must unite and support the ASUU strike unconditionally!
We in UAD believes that the battle is not for ASUU alone. All Nigerians and lovers of real change should join in fighting for the soul of education. We must all insist that the allocation to education as is in the budget 2017 must be massively increased to at least 26%.
The Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of this government is highly insensitive to education; health; and welfarism of the average Nigerian. This is not surprising as the bulk of the policies in the ERGP is meant to service the gluttonic “private sector.” The best ERGP will do to our life as a people is to multiply the wealth of the billionaires while leaving the rest of us in penury and hardship.
We in UAD also want to implore ASUU not to be cornered by the rodent style of governance of this government. The masses are being bitten and hurted by the policies of the Buhari/APC regime, yet the same regime shed crocodile tears in attempts to steal public sympathy. We must not continue to allow this.
This is why we as the leading civil society body in the country decided to have an Education Summitt in Lagos for the 30th of August. We are therefore inviting all stakeholders in the EdUcation sector to be part of the Forward-chatting discussions. We believe that students and workers must use the period of the ASUU strike and after to unite and battle for a properly funded; free; and compulsory education system that will surpass and advance the foundational achievements of our heroes past.
We as well call on all students to arise and support the fight for a better and pro-poor education system. We call for the immediate restoration of all proscribed students’ unions like UNILAG Students’ Union (ULSU), as well as the immediate and unconditional reistatement of victimized students’ Union leaders like Femi Adeyeye and the ULSU president (unilag 2); the IMSU 3; and the Yabatech 12; Kayode Bello of the Law School; and Olawale Owolabi Ogunruku (OAU 1). We hold that these victimizations are results of the fighback against education underfunding and underdevelopment which are democratic and progressive. But School managements use tyranny and unintellectual approaches at engaging all voices of dissent.
It is on the above premise that we also condemn the attacks on the Kogi ASUU by the clownish, infantile and shameless Governor Yahaya Bello; just as we condemn the recent attacks and attempts to victimize and proscribe the staff unions in YABATECH, Lagos.
Finally, we call on ASUU; SSANU; NASU; ASSUTON; NUT; ASUSS and Students’ Unions as well as the Alliance of Nigeria Students Against Neo-liberal Attacks (ANSA) to forge a united action plan to fight for the soul of education within and beyond this laudable strike. We as well demand that NLC; TUC; and ULC cordinate solidarity strikes to press home our historical demands.
The Buhari/APC government must throw their anti-people ERGP into some dustbin and immediately up the allocations to education; health; and other welfarist sectors through an Supplementary Budget with immediate effect!
Isaac Newton’s 1st Law of Motion is the best method to get real measures of concessions from this neo-liberal and Austerity-fetishing government. Any sympathy with the usual unproductive dialogues will be a hitting setback for the battle to save public education.
In solidarity!
Peter Adejobi, Kunle Wizeman Ajayi,
Pubicity Secretary. General Secretary.
Fatimah Mohammed, Gabriel Ojumah,
Deputy Convener. Convener.
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