The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) expresses its unflinching solidarity with the ongoing mass occupation undertaken by the Students’ Union of Lagos State University at the Governor’s office. We call on the All Progressive Party (APC) controlled Lagos State Government to accede to the demand of students, staff members and parents of the university for the reduction of the obnoxious fee regime in LASU.
We
commend the courage of students participating in the occupation and call for relentless
and protracted mass actions in order to win the demands of the struggle. It is
only through such method that the stubborn insistence of the government to
maintain the current obnoxious fees can be broken. Equally, no iota of
illusions must be sustained in the government so as not to dampen the struggle
with shallow promises.
The
government has shown through the clampdown, arrest and arraignment of
protesting peaceful students that it is prepared to resist the wave of
relentless protests by mass of students. The only option left for students and
striking staff unions is to wage the struggle until victory.
The
LASU branches of the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Senior Staff
Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) which are currently on strike for
the reduction of the fee hike among other demands need to come out with
solidarity protests with students on occupation. The united mass actions of the
entire sister unions including the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities
(NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) that can help
secure victory in the struggle.
The
overwhelming conclusion that can be drawn from the vicious response of the
Lagos State government to the genuine struggle of students is the naked,
brutish anti-poor character of the All Progressives Congress/Babatunde Fashola
government just like the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). We in the ERC contend
that only the unstoppable revolutionary mass movement of workers and youth to
end the unjust capitalism can end this era of backward and neo-liberal
policies. We call on the mass of students and workers to join us in the task of
fighting for a socialist alternative that will guarantee free and genuine
education and other social services for the vast majority of the people.
OUR
DEMANDS
(a)Lagos State Government
must meet the demands of LASU students for fees reduction. For mass actions to
continue until the demands are met.
(b) No to repression of
the protests of students and workers. Withdraw the charges against the eight
LASU students standing trial at magistrate court over protest against fees.
(c) For adequate funding
LASU by the government and democratic control by elected representatives of
staff unions and students.
(d)For united mass actions
of ASUU, SSANU, NASU and NAAT with the LASU Students’ Union as the next step of
the struggle.
(e)No to retrenchment of
workers and no to the obnoxious “no vacancy, no promotion”. All demands of the
staff unions must be met.
(f)No to victimization of
students involved in the anti-fee hike struggle.
(g)For a day of lecture
boycott and mass protests to be called by NANS Zone D to link up the anti-fee
hike protests in OAU, LASU, UNILAG and other campuses in the Southwest as a
step towards a national day of action against education commercialization.
(h)For a united action of
all education unions, ASUU, ASUP, COEASU, NASU, SSANU, NAAT, NUT, etc in
solidarity with students resisting fee
hike on all campuses in a rolling mass mobilization to save education.
(i) United mass struggle
of workers and youth for a working peoples government to place the commanding
heights of the economy under democratic control of the working people
themselves to galvanize enormous social resources to guarantee free education
and other essential social services.
Issued by the Education Rights Campaign (ERC) – a platform
form by the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM)
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