NO TO FEE HIKE AT THE FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC BIDA

We call on students, parents and workers to resist with protracted mass actions

The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) strongly condemns the directive by the management of the Federal Polytechnic Bida (FPB), Niger state that fresh students of the polytechnic should pay the sum of N10, 000 for acceptance fee. This translates to a 100 percent hike from the N5, 000 which used to be the maximum levy for acceptance. The authorities also asked all students to pay a sum of N500 as “religion due”. We demand the immediate reversal of the acceptance fee and outright cancellation of “religion due”.

We condemn the fee increment as an attempt to commercialize and price education out of the reach of children of the poor and average working class masses. It is all the more disturbing that despite the change mantra, the policy of fee hike and education commercialization continues.

This directive by the polytechnic’s management is absolutely unacceptable as the new students chose federal polytechnics Bida as their first choice institution when registering for the unified tertiary matriculation examination (UTME) and sat for the post UTME in September, 2015 on the basis of the old fee of N5, 000. It is therefore unjust and callous to ask the new students to pay the outrageous acceptance fee after they have been offered admission. The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) calls on the Students’ Union of the Polytechnic to resist the increment with a series of mass actions. Together with demanding reversal of the hiked fee, students should demand proper funding of education and democratic management of schools.

The fees students have been paying in the past have not reflected in any real improvement. Presently the Federal Polytechnic Bida is characterized by overcrowded classrooms, inadequate lecture halls, ill-equipped laboratories and libraries, inadequate teaching and non teaching staff, lack of transportation facilities, poor sport facilities, and poor ICT service among others.

We call on all working class parents and FPB staff unions (ASUP, SANNIP, and NASU) who are already overburdened by the anti poor policies of the government to openly declare their support for the students against the fee hike. We also call on fresh students and their parents to  reject the imposition of these obnoxious fees by the polytechnics Management and join in the struggle for the reversal of the fee increment.

Our Demands:

(1)   No to fee increment in FPB. Reverse the N10, 000 fee and cancel the “religion due” of N500.

(2)   Increase in the budgetary allocation up to UNESCO recommendation 26%.

(3)   Provision of adequate facilities for quality education and enabling learning environment.

(4)   For an independent and democratic students unionism without interference from the management or government.

(5)   Democratic running of the polytechnic with involvement of the elected representatives of education workers and students in all the decision-making bodies.

Signed.

kayode Salako

Coordinator

ERC Bida Polytechnic Chapter

ERC-ASUU UNIABUJA SYMPOSIUM: SOLIDARITY MESSAGE BY FORMER SECRETARY GENERAL OF ASUP

SOLIDARITY MESSAGE BY COMR. NDA-UMAR USMAN

(FORMER SECRETARY GENERAL, ACADEMIC STAFF UNION OF POLYTECHNICS, ASUP)

I bring you fraternal greetings and solidarity on this all important symposium jointly organized by ERC and ASUU, UniAbuja Chapter. Please accept my unreserved apology for not making it to the occasion due to conflicting engagement of equal importance. Permit me to put on record that the union I belong to, ASUP, has been in the forefront fighting for the betterment of its members and repositioning of Polytechnic education in Nigeria.

The above led to the longest protracted strike that took better part of the year 2014. Though regrettable, we only responded to the language government understood. Today the union is vindicated. When the then government was singing no money to heed to our demands including appropriate funding of education, they were busy helping themselves and allocating the funds for personal and political agenda. The current high profile corruption revelations are really mind boggling yet our institutions remain a laughing stock among comity of nations. Unfortunately, we in the labour movement have come to the realization that the students’ bodies have lost their bearings as they jettisoned the vision and mission of their founding fathers. Almost all the students’ bodies that I know today are factionalized simply because of greed for political leadership and wealth. The umbrella students’ unions are now being funded by political patronage, especially government officials. How can you speak against your master knowing that “he who pays the piper dictates the tune”. So they end up defending government’s obnoxious policies on education. Students’ unions in most campuses are no longer in tune with the welfare and well-being of students. I therefore urge you to have a change of heart and return to the ideals of the founding fathers.

Finally, it is unfortunate that we are yet to see the blue-print or know the direction of Buhari led government’s policies on education. As such, we can neither analyze nor make input. All we know is that he is fighting corruption with vigour so that corruption will not kill us. Let us drum into his ears that functional education is the utmost key to curbing corruption. I wish you fruitful deliberations.

Solidarity forever!

Struggle continua!!

Victoria acerta!!!

NO TO CLOSURE OF SCHOOL AND PROSCRIPTION OF STUDENTS' UNION IN OAU

PRESS STATEMENT

 The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) wishes to condemn in strong terms the undemocratic decision of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) authorities to close down the University and proscribe the Students Union. For us, proscription of the Students Union at the slightest hint of students’ protest or demand for improved condition is a relic of those better-forgotten days of military dictatorship and jackboot absolutism, which must not be allowed in any democratic society. We hereby demand immediate reopening of the University, restoration of Students Union activities and the meeting of the demands of students for improved welfare conditions which led to the protest in the first place.

On Monday, 30th November 2015, students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife embarked on a day-warning lecture boycott. The major demand of the boycott was improvement in learning and living conditions of students, which are in disgusting conditions. The Congress of students also demanded that the Vice-Chancellor of the University should be investigated on account of the mismanagement of university funds, which is one of the underlying causes of the rotten conditions of facilities and students’ welfare. Other demands are reversal of the current fee regime, and the reinstatement of Olawale Owolabi, who was suspended in 2011 following the protest of students against increment in acceptance fees (Increased from N2, 000 to N20, 000). As response to the protest of students and their legitimate demands, the University authorities have employed several options of repression to crush students’ protest and blackmail the students, such that it would be impossible for youths to exercise their democratic rights to protest bad governance or oppressive policies.

In its first reaction, the university shut down the school under the guise of a “mid-semester” break. It subsequently directed students to vacate the university campus on or before Wednesday, 2nd December, 2015. It is important to note that the information of school closure was received on the same Wednesday, 2nd December. In the early hours of Thursday, 3rd December 2015, the authorities instructed the operators of butteries and traders to close their ventures so as to impose a blockade on students as well as staff of the university. These are actions that show the cruelty and callousness of the authorities. Similarly, the authorities followed up this action with the “suspension of students’ union activities” which is a euphemism for banning or proscription of the Students’ Union.

In May 2014, the university authorities increased the fees of students. But the regime of new fees does not justify the disgusting state of toilets, congestion of hostel and poorly equipped libraries and laboratories. The Congress of students had held on Friday, 27th November, 2015 and declared a day-warning lecture boycott to draw the attention of the university authorities to the plights and demands of students. Most importantly, the Congress had mandated the leadership of the Union to sponsor advertorials in two national dailies, calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) to investigate the Vice-Chancellor and other principal officers of the university over the mismanagement of students fees, capital grants, TETFUND money and other IGR that have accrued to the university between 2011 and 2015. The university was obviously threatened by these resolutions, panicked and tried to blackmail the Students’ Union.

On Monday, November 30, the boycott was followed by a Congress, which resolved unequivocally to suspend every protest, and mandated the leadership of the Union to immediately embark on discussion with the authorities to defend and argue for Congressional resolutions. It was then surprising that the university’s only response to the request for negotiation was a purported mid-semester’s break. The idea of a mid-semester break is mischievous, and nothing more than shutting down the university to prevent students from pursuing the allegations of financial impropriety that have been levied against the university. Please recall that in July 2015, the university authorities employed a similar notion of “mid semester” break to shut down the university in order to douse the protest of members of Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU), who were protesting against the non-payment of 64 months of arrears of allowances. Up till this moment, the University has not paid these arrears. There is therefore no doubt that the current closure is forged to destabilise students’ agitation, in the same manner that the authorities crushed the struggle of NASU.

Nigerians must condemn the tendency of University administrators to resort to undemocratic means to avoid meeting the legitimate demands of students and workers. Authorities that do not want to be questioned on financial administration or policies must pursue good, pro-student and pro-worker policies. We hereby affirm that OAU students, like every Nigerian youth, have rights of association which is enshrined as a fundamental right in the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The ERC wishes to state clearly at this point that we fully support the decision of Great Ife Students’ Union to demand improvement in their living conditions, and explanations on the expenditures and finances of the university. The response of the authorities to these demands is outrageous and condemnable. The Students Union leadership must continue to expose the monumental corruption and profligacy of the authorities of OAU. We also call on well-meaning Nigerians to join in the campaign and struggle for improved funding and democratic management of the education sector. The ERC is convinced that if elected representatives of lecturers, non-academic staff, students and parents are involved in the making of all decisions regarding administration of things and finances in the university, we would not have most of the problems that are rocking the university system today.

Signed,

Wole Olubanji

Osun State Coordinator

08133927663

ERC OPPOSES SOCIAL MEDIA CENSORSHIP BILL

Calls for Protests and Demonstrations

Press Statement

The social media censorship bill currently at the Senate is obnoxious and condemnable. The “bill for an Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petition and other Matters Connected therewith”, which is sponsored by Senator Bala Ibn Na’allah of All Progressive Congress (APC), is an attempt to suppress free speech and protect public officials from scrutiny. This bill, if passed, proposes as much as a 2-year jail term or N2million fine for posting “abusive statements” against government and political office holders through text messages and on WhatsApp, twitter and other social media platforms.

Also the bill is proposing that anyone who writes a petition against a public office holder or government institution must obtain a duly sworn affidavit at the courts so they can be liable for libel trial should their petitions be found to be false. This raises the question of who would determine whether a petition is false or not. Of course no one would dare expose corrupt political office holders when they know they could land in jail while doing so. Thus politicians are further protected from the public so they can continue to loot and impose anti-poor policies without fear of any consequence.

So far, the bill qualifies as one of the most brazen attempts to gag Nigerians, especially young people, from freely expressing themselves, criticizing government, resisting anti-poor policies and exposing the corruption and sleaze of political office holders. The bill also exposes just how inconsistent the anti-corruption drive of the government is. The implication of the bill is that while government is allegedly going after high-profile former political office holders mainly from the former ruling party, those currently in power are further protected from public scrutiny and opprobrium so they can loot in peace.

The Buhari-led Federal Government had better be prepared to build more jails. Nigeria’s working masses and youth have always, even in the period of military dictatorships, defied unjust laws and shall do so with all vigour in the current circumstance. Any law that goes contrary to the eternal principles of freedom and justice shall be defied.

We call for protests and demonstrations across the country until this anti-people bill is defeated. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), students unions and youth groups, communities, pro-masses organizations and civil societies must organize mass actions including protest marches and possibly strikes to show to the proponents of this bill that their attempt to take the country back to the era military dictatorship will be resisted. As military head of state from 1983 to 1985, Buhari introduced a repressive press law called Protection Against False Accusation Decree 4 of 1984 which saw to the jailing of two journalists, Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor, for writing newspaper articles critical of his government.

The current “democracy” was fought for and won by the working masses and youth of Nigeria under some of the most extreme and difficult circumstances. To then ask the people who fought for this hard-won but limited freedom to submit their liberty is akin to playing with fire.

It is particularly shameful that the very same politicians of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) who during the last general election benefitted immensely from the vibrancy of the social media, which was one platform through which people freely expressed their anger at the failure of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which had held power since 1999, are the same people now rooting to censor social media. Senator Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West, is an active social media user and before he came to the Senate is known to have used social media, twitter especially, to subject the immediate past administration to scathing criticisms. The same Senator, who proudly flaunts expensive automobiles ways higher than his legitimate pay, is one of the most vocal proponents of the social media censorship bill. The likes of El-Rufai, now Kaduna State Governor, openly upbraided Jonathan’s government on social media including exposing the monumental sleaze and corruption of the government. In doing all of these, they also made many claims and accusations against the government, some of which could have been inaccurate yet they were not imprisoned for it. Now having used the power of the social media to clinch political power, they are not prepared to be subjected to the same criticism. The fact that the PDP senators also spoke in support of the bill when it came up for the second reading shows that there is no fundamental difference between them and APC. Indeed, Senator Ben Bruce of PDP who apparently speaks more on social media than in the Senate did not object to the bill as he kept mute.

And the reason is simple. The current elements in power only talk about change, in reality they are committed to preserving and running the same capitalist system and anti-poor policies that are responsible for Nigeria’s alarming inequality and backwardness. Moreso, with the fall in crude oil price and revenue decline, they are planning to introduce austerity measures which would inflict more pain and hardship on the working people and poor masses. But they remember January 2012 when few months after inauguration, a nationwide strike and mass movement almost brought down Jonathan’s government when he attempted to remove the so-called fuel subsidy and increase fuel price. In that movement, the social media played its first major role as a powerful tool for social mobilization. To prevent such an occurrence is the reason they are attempting to gag the populace through the social media censorship bill.

                                                                                          

Hassan Taiwo Soweto                                            Michael Ogundele                          

National Coordinator (07033697259)                 National Secretary