Press Statement
The
Education Rights Campaign (ERC) welcomes the conditional suspension of the
36-day old strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the
9-day old strikes of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities
(SSANU), Non Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU)
and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).
We commend the
staff unions for a battle well fought. We also salute students and parents for
showing understanding and solidarity while the strikes lasted.
No doubt, a
significant achievement of these strikes is that the workers unions in the
public university system have by their determined actions demonstrated that
struggle pays and that if we fight consistently we can win important
concessions.
We however
note the conditional nature of the suspension of the strikes. According to ASUU
leadership, the union would immediately resume the strike action by the end of
October 2017 if the Federal Government fails to fulfill its promises to meet
the demands including the payment of part of the balance of the N1.3 trillion
Public University Revitalization Funds. Similarly, according to a report by the
Guardian newspaper of Friday 22nd September 2017, SSANU, NASU and
NAAT “would come back in a month to review the level of compliance with the
agreement and shall not hesitate to resume the strike if government reneges on
the agreements reached or delays in any aspect”.
This places
the ball back in the court of the Federal Government. We shall hold the
government responsible if ASUU, SSANU, NASU and NAAT are compelled to embark on
another strike as a result of its negligence. Now that Nigeria has exited
recession and there is improvement in government revenue, the usual excuse that
government is cash-strapped is no more acceptable. We therefore urge the
Federal government to mobilize the resources required to meet the demands of
ASUU, SSANU, NASU and NAAT within the stipulated time in order to ensure that
the academic calendar is not again disrupted.
As we have
repeatedly argued, Nigeria has enough resources to fund and provide free and
quality education at all levels. The major obstacle are widespread corruption
of the thieving ruling elite and the inequitable, bankrupt and outmoded
capitalist system which places priority on profit rather than genuine needs of
the people.
While
struggles can win temporary concessions and improvements, a lasting solution is
only possible if the working class and poor masses struggle to overthrow the
capitalist system and replace it with a revolutionary workers and poor people’s
government armed with socialist policies. This would require the formation and
building of a mass workers alternative political party to dislodge the ruling
APC, PDP and other anti-education and anti-poor parties in power.
It is clear
that without the working class capturing political power, it would be
impossible to reverse the ugly paradox of a country blessed with abundant human
and natural resources but parading one of the worst literacy rates and
out-of-school children population in the world.
We
therefore urge ASUU, SSANU, NASU and NAAT to link their current struggles to
the need for a mass working people political alternative. In particular, we challenge
them to also champion the process of convening a national conference of trade
unions, socialist groups, human rights and civil society organizations,
students and youth groups and pro-working masses organizations to discuss the
need to form and build a political alternative to fight for political power.
Hassan Taiwo Soweto Ibukun
Omole
National Coordinator
(07033697259) National Secretary
No comments:
Post a Comment