NLC, TUC and ASUU Must Begin Immediate Mobilisations for Mass Protests and Demonstrations
The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) considers the
threat by the Federal government to sack striking academic staff of public
universities unless they resume duties on or before December 4 as the height of
President Jonathan's creeping civilian dictatorship. We strongly oppose the
directive by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) that armed police should
take over Universities for the purpose of effecting the forceful return of
striking lecturers to their duty post.
Universities are sanctuaries of knowledge, not
military barracks! Even under the worst military despotism, militarisation of
university campuses was stoutly resisted by students, education workers and the
entire labour movement. Students cannot be expected to learn under conditions
of insecurity which the presence of armed police on campuses would most certainly
create. We must remind the public that between January and June of the year
2013 alone, over 10 students were killed by the police on campuses across the
country mostly in similar conditions of drafting police to campuses ostensibly
to maintain "law and order". We therefore call on the IGP to reverse
this directive immediately otherwise we shall hold the IGP and the Federal
Government responsible for any harrassment, injury or death of students,
lecturers and any member of the University community that may be caused by this
rash directive.
It is unfortunate that inspite of the danger which
militarisation of the Universities would mean for students, the Yinka
Gbadebo-led National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has not deemed it
fit to call the IGP to order. This is highly unfortunate and confirms the point
that the NANS leadership has become unashamedly pro-government. This however
means that in the immediate, students have to take their destiny into their own
hands. We therefore call on students returning to their different campuses and
progressive Student Unions to begin immediately to get organised by calling
emergency congresses and public meetings at which the militarisation of
universities should be discussed and resolutions reached on necesarry mass
actions to kick out the police.
We call on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade
Union Congress (TUC) and civil society organisations to give concrete
solidarity to ASUU by immediately commencing mobilisations for rallies, mass
protests and demonstrations all over the country in order to clearly
demonstrate to the government that it would have the entire working class to
contend with if it decides to go on with its threat to victimise striking
University lecturers for simply fighting for the revitalisation of the public
university system.
This outrageous and provocative order by a
supposedly elected government to University lecturers to resume work regardless
of whether or not their demands have been met is reminiscent of the dark days of
military despotism. Above all it demonstrates
the regime's contempt and absolute disregard for the rights and interests of
the working people of this country. No
doubt, to implement this satanic threat the Federal Government will have to
employ ruthless methods consisting of arrest and detention of ASUU leaders,
mass sack of its members, proscription of the union itself and drafting of the
police and the army to occupy University campuses ostensibly to maintain law
and order!
Here we must quickly point out that it is not ASUU
but actually the Federal Government and its obstinate refusal to invest in
revitalising our decrepit public University system that is sabotaging the
education sector and keeping students perpetually at home.
The Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, while announcing this devilish threat said the Federal Government has met all its commitments and obligations with respect to the FGN/ASUU 2009 agreement. It must be that the ruling elite somehow believes that Nigerian people suffer from collective amnesia, otherwise how could a whole Minister of the Federal Republic utter such a blatant lie?
Everybody knows the current strike was caused by Federal Government refusal to honour an agreement on University funding and academic staff welfare signed with ASUU since 2009. Since this strike started four months ago, the Federal Government has rather consistently and under different ruse been presenting proposals that border on unilaterally renegotiating the agreement. Everyone knows that despite the consistent insincerity of the Federal Government and insults from Finance Minister Okonjo Iweala, Senate President David Mark and Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam, ASUU has had to shift some ground on several occasions since the strike started in order to accommodate the Federal Government. Everyone knows that at the 13-hour marathon meeting by President Jonathan and ASUU executives and NLC and TUC representatives, the government stuck to its refusal to honour the 2009 agreement and instead presented proposals which watered-down the basic ingredients of the 2009 agreement but which ASUU graciously agreed to present to their members for consideration. Everyone knows that a decision on the President proposals would have been made by ASUU weeks before now had an unfortunate but highly-suspicious accident involving the convoy of Kogi State Governor Idris Wada not claimed the life of its former president Prof. Festus Iyayi while travelling for ASUU's NEC meeting.
Before now the ERC had warned of the creeping
militarisation of the country under President Jonathan through the use of
undemocratic polices and laws and more than once open use of armed police and
the army to undermine the democratic rights of workers and ordinary Nigerians.
We had earlier called on the labour movement to intervene with protests and
demonstrations to halt the continued descent to civilian dictatorship. Already
the government has demonstrated its intolerance of the democratic rights of
lecturers with brutal clampdown of the protest actions of ASUU members at a
number of universities a few weeks ago. Now as it appears, the government wants
to intensify the attacks on the striking university lecturers. Should this be
allowed to happen, sooner than later the entire workers, students, youth and
poor masses of this country would be similarly attacked by the government. This
is why it is extremely important for the labour movement to act now.
Hassan
Taiwo Soweto Michael Ogundele
National
Coordinator National Secretary
07033697259 07066249160
1 comment:
you a hypocrite, dt nids 2 be locked up! we d students are against ASUU, we want d university re_open, or where were you wen ASUU is refusing to call off strike? i guess you are sleeping... nw d slogan in students mouth is "ASUU MUST GO"
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