"Students
Need A NANS That Can Fight Like ASUU for The Interest of its Members"
Press Statement
The
Education Rights Campaign (ERC) heartily welcomes the news of the suspension of
the indefinite and nationwide strike of the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) on the basis of government concessions. We congratulate the
members and leadership of ASUU for this victory. Most especially we
congratulate ASUU for showing exemplary perseverance, courage and determination
while the strike lasted. This victory is an inspiration to students, youth and
the working masses that struggle pays. But vigilance must be maintained to
ensure that this agreement is implemented and the promised funds are not looted.
Starting
from July 1st 2013, University lecturers downed tools in a crucial struggle to
reposition the public university system. The key demand was the implementation
of the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement. At the height of the strike, the Federal
Government claimed the agreement was not implementable! However few months
after making this declaration and two weeks after issuing sack threats to
University lecturers, the same Federal Government bowed to the power of
struggle by agreeing even if partially to begin to take seriously its
responsibility to the funding of the public university system.
The most
important lesson to be learnt here is that the corrupt capitalist ruling elite
gives nothing on a platter of gold, the oppressed can only win any demand if
they are willing to fight tenaciously for it not minding the sacrifice nor
consequence. This contrast sharply with the shameful manner the Nigeria Labour
Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) abandoned their 2008 demand
for N52,500 minimum wage in exchange for a promise of a paltry N18,000 in 2011
allegedly because of their "concern for the economy". Today workers are not even
being paid the N18,000.
We also commend Nigerian
students and parents who whilst bearing the difficult burden of the strike
never wavered or despaired in the conviction that ASUU is right while the
government is to be blamed for the decay of our public education system. The
Yinka-Gbadebo leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students
(NANS) must now hide its face in shame. For the first time in history, NANS
openly and publicly worked to scuttle a struggle meant to alleviate the
suffering of Nigerian students by compelling government to fund the public
university system by rehabilitating the facilities in our universities. Prior
to now, pro-government NANS leaders often ply their dirty trade of wheeling and
dealing with the government in secret. The Yinka Gbadebo leadership will go
down in history as a leadership that has raised the bar of NANS degeneration
and complete irrelevance in the dire struggle to reposition the education
sector.
But as students prepare
to return to campuses by January 2014, they must also be prepared to mobilize
to reclaim their students unions and NANS from the pro-government cabal that
has taken them over. We need a NANS that can fight courageously like ASUU for
the interest of its members. The victorious ASUU strike must inspire Nigerian
students to also desire a union that can boldly stand for the interest of its
members without fear or compromise. NANS can be built as a fighting union like
ASUU if it is reclaimed from the state agents masquerading as its elected
officials. Indeed without replacing the current rightwing leadership of NANS at
all levels and making NANS democratic and accountable to its members, the
student movement will be unable to rise to the task of fighting against fee
hike, for better living and studying conditions and to save the entire public
education system.
No doubt with this
victory, ASUU has helped to graphically demonstrate how trade unions, students
and indeed all oppressed people of this country must fight for their
right. ASUU has helped to show that
"if we fight , we can win". ASUU has also shown by this victory and
by the unity of its members, the boldness of its leadership and its daring
conviction to bear whatever consequences that may come those essential
qualities required to fight and win struggles but which regrettably are missing
in the labour movement and most tragically in the student movement today. By
all standards ASUU has demonstrated how the rest of the oppressed masses of
this country should organise to fight for their right. It is now our
responsibility in the students movement, youth movement and the labour movement
to practicalize this important lesson by beginning to overhaul the dead bones
of each of these movements so that they can play a role in the struggle to
liberate Nigeria.
However this victory of
ASUU is merely a dress rehearsal for bigger battles to save public education.
To start with, the 2009 agreement still remains largely unimplemented.
Secondly, the N200 billion released is still too little if one dispassionately
considers the terrible crisis of decayed facilities and infrastructures
afflicting our public universities. This notwithstanding, if the N200 billion
is judiciously utilised, there is reason to hope that a little of the problem
can at least be solved. But even this can only be possible with democratic
control and management of the education sector. As the ERC has severally
argued, without the democratic control and management of schools and the entire
education sector by elected committees of workers and students, any effort to
improve education funding will not have much impact on the conditions of the
public university system. This is because of the established culture of
corruption and looting which has eaten deep into the fabric of the management
of the public university system.
More than ever before,
ASUU, students unions and all other categories of education workers must now be
on guard on campuses nationwide to ensure that the disbursement and spending of
the N200 billion to Universities is strictly monitored in order to prevent
mismanagement by Vice Chancellors and their corrupt kitchen cabinets. This also
requires that the budget monitoring committees which is a part of the 2009
agreement be immediately set up where they do not yet exist and every efforts
made to ensure that only real representatives of students, staff unions and the
University community are elected to sit on these committees and make regular
report back to the university community
No doubt, the ASUU strike
is the greatest struggle of the year 2013. In a way the strike marks a dramatic
close to the year 2013 just as the struggle against fuel subsidy removal marked
a dramatic opening of the year 2012. It is our conviction in the ERC that the
echoes of the victory of University lecturers over a recalcitrant government
may yet serve as inspiration for working masses and youths in the year 2014 to
take their destiny into their hands and fight to save the public education
system and reclaim Nigeria.
Hassan
Taiwo Soweto Michael Ogundele
National
Coordinator National Secretary
07033697259 07066249160
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