FOR UNITED ACTIONS OF
WORKERS AND STUDENTS
Few months to the 2015 general elections, subtle electoral campaigns
are already being undertaken by political parties across Ogun state. To this
end, an appraisal of the performances of the APC’s led government in education
sector becomes very necessary. This is because education due to its central and
indispensible roles in the lives of the citizenry has become a major campaign
item for political parties seeking electoral advantages from the electorate.
This being the case, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), as it then was, had exploited the genuine desires of the good
working masses of Ogun state, during the
2011 general elections campaigns while soliciting for votes, promising to make education accessible when
voted to power.
More than three years in the saddle, it has been tales of woes for
education at all levels in the state. Education is under serious attacks. This perilous
state of affairs in the sector notwithstanding, the Ibikunle Amosun led APC
government has oiled its propaganda machines, and the general public are already being inundated with stories of
the “wonderful changes” the government has wrought in education in the state.
It is the obsession with propaganda by the APC government in the face
of complete lacks of performance in critical sectors in order to secure
electoral advantage that has prompted this piece.
PAYMENT OF 27.5% TEACHERS
PECULIAR ALLOWANCE AND N18,000 MINIMUN WAGE
It should be recalled, that Ogun state government still remains one of
the state governments across the country that have refused to pay the 27.5%
Teachers Peculiar Allowance since 2011, and N18, 000 minimum wages to both its
primary and secondary teachers till date. This has once attracted strike and protests
by the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) which was undermined by government with
various tactics such as police harassment, polarization of the NUT, etc. The threat
of strike by the NUT still looms large in the state, as the government has
refused to meet the demands of teachers satisfactorily.
These vexing issues with serious consequences on the smooth running of
both primary and secondary schools in the state, are yet to attract a proactive
measures by the government, despite repeated threats of strike protest by the
teachers. Other demands which the teachers have consistently echoed, but gained
no hearing by the state government include: the continuous late payment of
teachers salary; the refusal of the state government to positively address
the payment of 30% Christmas bonus of
year 2012 and 2013 to primary school
teachers; nonpayment of promotion arrears of teachers in the same primary
school till date; deliberate stagnation of teachers on the same salary grade
level in primary and secondary schools; inability of the government to
harmonize salaries of teachers in both primary and secondary schools to correct
the difference in promotion prospects; and the continuous withholding of deductions from teachers
salary, meant for cooperative, and other
scheme planned towards retirement.
In addition are the collapses of infrastructures in many of the
schools across the state. In fact, since the beginning of this administration,
no single newly built structures have been added to majority of primary and
secondary schools in the state, save for the ones under Millennium Development
Goals (MDG) projects, executed by the federal government, in spite of increasing
enrolment of pupils yearly. This situation has led to overcrowded classrooms,
where school pupils learn under trees, sitting on used tires, when the weather
is favorable. While flood takes over many schools during raining season and
pupils go on forced holidays! Appalled by these dangerous developments, many
parents organized under Parents’ Teachers Association (PTA) have had to donate
blocks, cements, woods, roofing sheets etc, to some of these schools, after
appeals by the school heads. A good example of “Promoting Partnership for
Participatory Programs” of free education! The cumulative effects of this
lackluster performance of the government in primary and secondary schools in
the state are now manifested in the consistent poor performances of primary and
secondary pupils in both internal and external examinations.
IRREGULAR PAYMENT OF
SALARIES OF LECTURERS IN TERTIARY SCHOOLS
The education workers in Ogun state tertiary institutions have been
battling with irregular and late payment of their salaries, harsh working
conditions, highhandedness by the vice chancellors, rectors and provosts; lack
of research grants; backlog of unpaid earned allowances amongst others, since
the beginning of this administration. Frustrated
by this seeming callous attitude of the government towards education, the
lecturers at different times have had course to embark on protest rallies, and
in some instances outright strikes to draw the attention of the state
government to their plights, but the government has remained adamant and
nonchalant to the legitimate grievances of the lecturers across tertiary
institutions in the state.
This ugly turn of events has since seen the lecturers of the Olabisi
Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye, embarked recently on a protest march. The
lecturers took off from the institution’s mini campus, and trekked a distance
of 7km ,a journey of about an hour to the university permanent site, where they
delivered a protest letter to the Vice Chancellor for onward transmission to
the government. Several months after, the government has refused to accede to
their demands till date. As a result lecturers have continually threatened to embark
on strike.
This is no isolated case. The lecturers of Tai Solarin University of
Education (TASUED), Ijagun, and Tai Solarin College of education, Omu,Ijebu,
have also gone on strike on a number of occasions, since the beginning of this
administration, on issues bordering on poor funding; lack of enabling teaching and learning
environment; poor remunerations; late and irregular payment of salary; and poor
and inadequate infrastructural
facilities. At the Ogun state College of Health Technology (OGCOHTECH), Ilese,
and Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY),Ojere, the lecturers have had cause at one point or the other to embark
on strike, since the inception of this administration to demand government
attention on issues equally centered on backlog of unpaid salaries; poor
working conditions; decayed infrastructure; and above all, what they termed
government deception in its avowed commitment to education development. The
trend cuts across all other institutions of higher learning in the state, and
the government, from all indications is least bordered by these sad developments
in education sector.
FEES HIKE IN OGUN STATE
TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS.
A series of agitations and protests by students at different
institutions in Ogun State as well as the fear of its anti-poor fees regime on
the prospect of APC in 2015 elections has made the state government to announce
fees reduction across the institutions with effect from next academic session.
But this reduction has been largely marginal and cannot fundamentally relief
the burden of students from poor and working class families. For instance, in
OOU the fee of medical students has been reduced from N301, 610 to N176, 596
while students of the Faculty of Arts would be paying N81, 112 instead of the
current fee of N126, 540. This marginal
fee reduction has therefore been rejected by students especially OOU students
who greeted the announcement with a protest rally in Abeokuta demanding N50,
000 fees across board. Now the school has been shut down by the government as a
result of the mass protest by the students.
It is also instructive to stress that serious harm had been done to
the career of a number students before this recent “political” reduction of the
fees which were originally introduced by Gbenga Daniel regime. The current
outrageous regime of fees, which is it in force until next session, was maintained
by Amosun for more than three years into his administration despite the promise
of drastic reduction during his electoral campaign ahead of 2011 election. This
anti-poor policy and official deceit has led to loss of studentship in many
institutions in the state.
For instance at OOU, the students – who were used to payment by installment
or deferred payments, were given just barely a week notice to pay up these new
fees last session. As a result more than 3,500 students cutting across all
departments at different levels including final year, who could not complete
their payments, had their studentship terminated by the school management
against all entreaties by well meaning Nigerians. They were later asked to
reapply through Direct Entry (DE) and in order to be admitted to 200level
regardless of their original levels, save for 100levels students!
At TASUED, over 2,000 students most of them in final year were
excluded from the just concluded first semester examinations because they could
not complete their payments. Incidentally, not all the students that were
prevented from writing the examination defaulted. Some did pay their fees to
the designated banks, but they were denied receipts by the commercial banks,
who claimed lack of access to the school’s e-portal, which the colluding school
management had surreptitiously closed. Yet, the authorities shamefacedly made
the bank receipt a pass into the examination halls.
The authorities at the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) forcefully
migrated over 3,000 fresh fulltime students- both ND and HND, to part-time
programs, when the students could not complete their payment of school fees
The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) in a statement supports the demand
of students for further reduction while it believes that only full reversal of
all hiked fees and a commitment by the State government to improve funding to
all the tertiary institutions together with democratic management of the
schools can guarantee affordable and accessible education for all students in
Ogun State. ERC argues that against the background of the recent successful
struggle of LASU students, the lies that fee hike cannot be fully reversed have
been defeated.
It is instructive to note that the joining of the struggle against
fees, which had been started by students, by the academic and non-academic
staffs in LASU helped pile more pressure on the state government to totally
reverse the fee. This is lacking in OOU nay Ogun State at the moment. It is
therefore imperative for joint actions of all staff unions and students in the
state higher institutions in support of the struggle against fees and with
demand for adequate funding of education and democratic management of the
institutions to include elected representatives of staffs and students.
PANACEA FOR DECADENCE IN
EDUCATION IN OGUN STATE
In spite of high fees paid by students there were no physical
developments in the over three years of Amosun administration in any of the
schools. For instance, at OOU apart from the fact no single building projects
have been executed, the abandoned uncompleted buildings inherited by this
government remain in the same conditions till date. In fact, it was just about
two months ago, some chairs were taken out from the dilapidated lecture
theatres for repair works! Till date, the institution’s Faculty of Agriculture
is still being accommodated by a secondary school at Ayetoro community after
several years. At TASUED, nothing has changed. The institution remains largely
a glorified college; with constant threats by the government to merge it with
OOU to saves cost. The conditions at the Ogun state Cooperative College, Ijeja,
will not pass for a modern poultry farms in civilized society!
This is not accidental; it is a logical consequence of neo-liberal
capitalist policies against public education which is not however peculiar to
the APC government in Ogun state; it is the policy thrusts of all the ruling
political parties in Nigeria.
This then brings to the fore, the question of working class political alternative,
which will completely defeat these attacks on education and other sectors of
the economy on a permanent basis, and that will equally be committed to the
needs of all, as against profits for a few. This is why the ERC supports the
formation Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) as a striking example for workers,
youth and masses in the absence of a mass working people party at the moment.
SPN is unrepentantly committed to free and quality education at all levels,
which is publicly funded. Using resources liberated through nationalization of
the commanding heights of the economy, including banks and other financial
institutions, democratically managed and controlled by workers themselves, in a
centrally planned economy the party in power will ensure provision of basic
needs such as education, health care, water, infrastructure, etc for the
benefit of vast majority. Workers,
farmers, market women and men, artisans, and students are invited to join and
build SPN in their various domains.
Eko John Nicholas
A Farmer and Member of Education Rights Campaign
Ijebu Ode, Ogun state.
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