Press Statement
Over
the past few days, the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile Ife has been agog
with agitations and protests by students over plans by the Management to hike
fees in the University.
According
to the details of the plan, the hike will affect mainly fresh students who will
be required to pay as much as N80, 000 and above. This is aside from the
mandatory N20, 000 acceptance fee which was increased some 3 years ago.
Students equally protested then but all they got was the proscription of the
Students Union and victimization of their union leaders and activists.
The
Education Rights Campaign (ERC) joins OAU Students to say no to this increment
because it is anti-poor, unjust and unacceptable.
Besides
it is a slap on the collective intelligence of students and their poor parents
for any management of public University to contemplate increment just when the
sum of about N200 billion won by the Academic Staff Union of Universities
(ASUU) at the end of their strike last year is being disbursed for funding of
capital projects in the Universities. OAU is a beneficiary of this grant.
We
call on the Prof. Tale Omole-led management of the University to immediately
perish the thought of increasing fees. If the University management however
decides to go ahead, the consequence will be massive and prolonged resistance.
Perhaps
never in the history of Nigeria since the period immediately after independence
has the need to reposition and make public education available and accessible
to all irrespective of social status being more urgent. In the North East of
Nigeria, a violent group called Boko Haram is burning schools, slaughtering
school boys and abducting school girls all in an effort to discourage and
destroy what they call “western” public education. The narrative of this
murderous campaign goes far beyond the physical reality of burnt schools and
abducted girls.
The
truth actually is that for far too long modern education which is a gateway to
a good job and civilized existence has been the exclusive preserve of the
Northern capitalist ruling elite. This has made what Boko Haram describes as “western”
education to appear in the mind of many poor Northern youth as a privilege of a
few and not the right of everyone. At the same time often a significant part of
many education syllabuses politically reflect the views of the ruling class and
sometimes also imperialism. This is why the ERC has often held on to the belief
that after all is said and done, Boko Haram insurgency is a creation of
Nigeria's capitalist system and the yawning inequality it has caused in our
society. The only effective antidote to Boko Haram insurgency and other violent
groups is the expansion of access to public education, provision of jobs and
guaranteeing of a decent future for all.
Against
this background, the implication of hiking fees in a Federal University like
OAU is grave. For a long time, the University with its relatively low fees has
presented many students from poor working class background with an opportunity
to have a chance at University education. Increasing the fees will definitely
cut off this opportunity, drive a majority of prospective students from the
institution and end the dream of many. Of course, it need not be stressed that
it is this same pattern of alienation of the mass majority from education and
other social services that prepared the ground for the rise of Boko Haram in
the North East.
However
it seems to us in the ERC that what the Boko Haram violent insurgent group
plans to accomplish in the North East is essentially what the OAU management
also wants to achieve by hiking fees beyond what poor Nigerians can afford. It
is the duty of the students as well as staff unions of the Obafemi Awolowo
University not to allow this.
We
believe that education is a right, not a privilege. We are sure that Nigeria is
rich enough to fund education adequately without putting the burden of fees on
students and their poor parents. The only obstacle to this is the corruption of
the ruling elite and the anti-poor system of capitalism. This is why, to
permamently win our demands, we need a working people's political alternative
to end capitalism and enthrone a democratic socialist Nigeria.
The
ERC will, alongside students, parents, community people and workers in the
education sector, continue to resist attempts to price education out of the
reach of poor Nigerians. The OAU Management will be saving itself a lot of
trouble if it honorably reverses its plans to hike fees.
Hassan
Taiwo Soweto Michael Ogundele
National
Coordinator National
Secretary
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