The Need for a Radical, Mass-Based Students’ Movement
The Education Rights Campaign (ERC),
Osun State Chapter commends Nigerian students under the banner of the National
Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Osun State Joint Campus Committee (JCC)
for organizing this forum for students to decide their future and that of the
organization. Without mincing words, the state of Nigerian students’ movement
vis-à-vis the degeneration of various structures of NANS and student unions,
calls for a sober reflection. This is more so at a period when Nigerian
students, their parents and families are faced with monumental suffering in the
midst of superabundance. Today, governments at all levels have turned
education, especially tertiary education into commodity to be purchased by
students and their poor parents. Currently, lecturers in polytechnics and
colleges of education are on national strikes. These strikes are products of
anti-poor policies of government. Where governments have been compelled to
undertake some minimal and token programmes for education, such projects are
used to line private pockets of politicians and big businesses.
The Terrible
State of Education in Osun State
In Osun State today, in spite of the
so-called progressivism of the current Aregbesola government, the state of
education has not witnessed fundamental change from the rotten levels past
administrations of Oyinlola/PDP and Bisi Akande/AD left it. The Bisi Akande
regime, under a sadistic reform programme sacked thousands of teachers but left
most schools in dilapidated state. The Oyinlola administration, in a cynical
attitude for which the government was notorious, only did a patch-patch work on
education even when the foundation was seriously faulty. While huge amount were
budgeted for education, the only result students saw was increase in school
fees for students in tertiary institutions, and a handful of environmentally
dangerous classrooms. Few teachers were employed for schools; facilities were at
horrible state, where they existed at all; morale of working staff was low,
etc. In short, education was in complete mess.
Unfortunately, in spite of all
propaganda by the current government, not much has been seen since its
emergence over three years ago. Fees are still high in tertiary institutions
despite the meager reduction government claimed to have effected. In UNIOSUN
for example, a political science students still pay as much as over N90, 000 as
fees while medical students (whose medical school has not been approved by relevant
professional councils) pay more than N150, 000. In state owned polytechnics and
colleges of education, fees are also very high. Worse still, state of facilities
has not improved. While Aregbesola government claimed to have procured computer
tablets for secondary school students, all the tertiary institutions in the
state have no functional ICT facilities, functional internet connection or
useful computer centres. In fact, most of these institutions lack proper
provision for electricity supply.
Added to this is the poor working
conditions for staff, which has led to at least three strikes in the state
tertiary institutions in the past three years, while the lecturers in Colleges
of Education in the state are bracing up for another strike. Moreover, there is
major shortfall of staff, which is putting heavy workload on few lecturers
working. This has the tendency to encourage cronyism and exploitation in the
absence of viable and progressive student union leadership. Furthermore, aside
the huge fees students are coughing out; accommodation is a major problem for
most students. It is unfortunate that Aregbesola government has not changed the
ridiculous provision in the state education policy that ensured that no school
hostels are constructed for students on campus. This has pushed many students
into the hands of Shylock landlords, while many students are forced to live in
terrible conditions (with no water and electricity supply, etc).
Rebuilding the
Students’ Movement
These situations are not going to change
if students, through their unions and organizations are not prepared to get
organized and fight for better conditions; not only for themselves but for
generations unborn. The history of Nigerian students’ movement has shown that
when students decide to take their destinies in their hands, by fighting for
and defending their rights to better living and studying conditions, they have
tendency to succeed. However, this requires proper organization and democratic
involvement of students in decision-making process in unions. This implies that
student union principles be premised on mass mobilization of students through
regular congresses, popular parliamentary meetings, political symposia and
lectures, rallies, and protests. This method can make union leaders accountable
and get respect of government and school authorities.
More than this,
student unions need to be based on fighting for and defending the rights of all
students without succumbing to divisive politics of managements. For instance,
union elections in many institutions today are subjects to undemocratic rules
and guidelines set by managements, and not by students who are the real owners
of the unions. This is meant to ensure the emergence of pro-management,
pro-state, toothless union leadership. Unless students and activists are
prepared to change this relation, unions may not be able to achieve much. This
also requires NANS including JCC Osun to begin the process of redirecting the
organization to its radical and left wing history. Inasmuch as NANS structures
continue to serve as tools in the hands of various anti-poor capitalist
politicians, it cannot defend the interests of students. Therefore, the task is
on students, activists and union leaders to begin the process of rebuilding
their organizations on radical, progressive and democratic path.
Immediate
Programmes
Practically, we of the ERC call on
students and activists gathered at this august meeting to start drawing up
programme of action to defend the collective interests of students and reshape
student unionism. Among other things, we propose the following:
1.
Immediate
drawing up of Charter of Demands of students in Osun State on salient issues
that affect them. This should include demands on welfare and conditions of
studying of students e.g. accommodation provision; infrastructural facilities
in schools; exploitation of students on campus; attack on students’ rights
including right to organize, role of cadets on campus, managements’
interference in union affairs, etc; and immediate reduction of fees to, at
least, 1999 level. This Charter of Demands, which must cover all the tertiary
institutions in the state, must serve as basis of negotiating with various
managements and state government. This Charter should be used as a basis to
organize mass actions of students across the state.
2.
Students must
also begin the process of reaching out to staff unions with a view to building
joint actions on issues affecting students and staff. For instance, the
question of poor working conditions and inadequate staffing affect both staff
and students. Therefore, defeat of one section will definitely lead to defeat
of the other. Consequently, student unions and NANS JCC must make effort to
reach out to staff unions on issues affecting each section and both. This means
that students should support industrial actions of staff unions that seek to
better their working conditions and/or improve state of education in the state.
3.
The NANS JCC, as
a way of rebuilding students’ confidence in the organization, must begin the
process of self-restructuring. This should involve immediate organization of
mobilization and educative activities such as symposia, rallies, etc in various
campuses, to take the organization back to the students. More than this,
regular congresses of NANS JCC need to be organized as a way of building a mass
base and popularizing revolutionary ideas among students. Through revolutionary
and mass-based activities of NANS JCC, it can be possible to mobilize students
in various institutions to begin the process of rebuilding their various unions
along revolutionary path.
4.
NANS JCC must
support other students under attack. For instance, OAU student union has been
under ban for the past three years. NANS JCC and other unions must support
restoration of the union in OAU. An injury to one is an injury to all.
These, among other
issues, are what we consider as vital for this august meeting.
Join the ERC
If you are opposed to attacks on
education and the rights of students and workers by various governments, and
you want to fight back, then the organization to join is the Education Rights
Campaign (ERC). ERC is a campaign platform of the Democratic Socialist Movement
(DSM) for free and quality education, proper funding of education, democratic
management of schools, better working conditions for education workers, and for
rebuilding of Nigerian students’ movement i.e. NANS and student unions, on
revolutionary and mass-based path. We initiate and participate in struggles and
campaigns of students for improvements in their studying and living conditions,
and are opposed to all attacks on democratic rights of students and workers. We
organize through public symposia, rallies, public meetings and seminars, and
publication of educative materials. If you are seeking better deals for
Nigerian students and youth, we enjoin you to join and support us.
Issued January, 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment