LAUTECH Students Groan Under Indefinite Break Caused by the Failure of Oyo and Osun State governments

OUR STORY

ERC supporters, LAUTECH

Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) is co-owned and run by two states: Oyo and the state of Osun. All expenditures and revenues concerning the school are managed by the two states. Hence, salaries, arrears and allowances are the responsibilities of these two states.

THE SAGA

The school began its 2015/2016 academic session on 22nd February 2016 just as most schools that began the session earlier in the year. Normal academic activity started as usual and things were going on fine and one expected the duration of the semester would be the conventional 3 months and a month for exams. Going by that, it was expected that by May/June, the normal semester would be completed. According to the released calendar and schedule followed by the school, exams were to begin by May 13, 2016.

But to our surprise, when the day was drawing close, a notification of postponement was communicated and the new exam date was fixed for June 6 2016. During this time, everyone took it as the culture of the school as we never commence exams on initially agreed dates. They are often times not ready and always postpone the date by a week or two. When 6th of June was approaching, rumor of the school lecturers been owed by the government for months started making the rounds. It was alleged that the Oyo state government was owing 5 months salary while the Osun state government was owing 17 months. It was covered up earlier as the school management was using Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to run the expenditures, things went awry however when the school coffers went dry and there was nothing left of IGR to make payments. Subsequently, the lecturers came up with another request for payment of "earned academic arrears" (EAA) which the state governments have been owing them for a few years now. Then they insisted through their union, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that once their allowances are not paid, then they will not release exam questions.

The school was in this dilemma when 6th of June came, as expected, they postponed the exams once more. The students' union elections which was supposed to have been held in the previous semester or very early in the new semester was delayed and dragged to the same period. However when exams could no longer come up during that period, the school gave room for the students' union election while they continued to appeal to ASUU to reconsider their stand. The students' union election came up during that week and the result was violence. Of the four existing sociopolitical organizations on campus, the organization whose member is the electoral chairman claimed they won all the available positions. This did not go down well with others and some unknown students resorted to violence immediately after the election results were announced, where they destroyed some few school properties, the union building taking the major scar. Early on Monday the following week, massive protests erupted and some set of masked protesters locked down the school. In lieu of this, the school resolved to suspend all students’ union activities.

Alas, few days later, on the 13th of June 2016 when all efforts by the school management to make exams possible proved abortive, they declared an indefinite break only to blame it later on the student union post-election fracas.

CONCLUSION

The deceptive break has been on for more than two months now. What is clear is that the school management does not want to admit that it was the refusal of the academic staff of the University to participate in the examinations because they are being owed many months of salary that compelled the management to announce a fictitious break. This is in a bid to pacify the state governors and cover up their mess. But this deception cannot last for long. The only way the University can be re-opened for conduct of examinations is if the Oyo and Osun state governments are prepared to meet the demands of the academic staff for payment of their salary.

It has also been confirmed that the Oyo state had in the last few weeks made some payments to cover part of what they owe which will have been sufficient at least to get the school back running provided the Osun state government also paid its portion of the debt. But with the refusal of the state of Osun to complement with its own part, things are still grounded and may continue to be so unless students and workers are prepared to embark on mass campaign and struggles to force the state governments to pay the salaries and also commit to improved funding of the institution.

OUR DEMANDS

 
(1) The Oyo and Osun state governments must pay up all owed salaries and arrears to all concerned staff.

(2) The school should immediately announce a resumption date and allow students a little period to read before the commencement of exams.

(3) That the management must uplift the ban on union activities.

(4) That another election be held with another electoral commission constituted since the last election was inconclusive.

A CALL FOR JUSTICE FOR FOLASHADE: BRUTALISED BY OP-MESA, DISMISSED BY SCHOOL AUTHORITIES

Press statement

BRUTALISATION AND UNJUST DISMISSAL OF MISS OLADOKUN FOLASHADE LESHI BY OP-MESA AND AUTHORITIES OF ABRAHAM ADESANYA POLYTECHNIC

A Cry for Justice

The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) demands justice for Miss Oladokun Folashade Leshi – an ND 11 female student of the Department of mass communication of Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic (AAP) Ijebu Igbo Ogun State  – who was brutalized by men of Operation MESA (OP-MESA) and for seeking redress, has now been dismissed from her studies by the Polytechnic authorities. We consider Folashade’s case a unique example of, on the one hand, the extreme brutality and complete disregard for human life that runs through the sinews of the state security forces including the police and the army as well as their contempt and base disregard for the female sex and gender rights.

We hereby demand Folashade’s immediate recall with adequate compensation for her travails, the identification, arrest and trial of the operatives of OP-MESA that brutalized her as well as the DPO of Topan Police station where she was detained even while bleeding from injuries sustained at the hands of OP-MESA operatives. We also demand the sack and trial of Prof. Jumoke Bilesanmi Awoderu and Miss Afolashade Jokotagba, respectively the Rector and DSA of the Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic for their ignoble roles in the entire saga.

On 18 April 2016, Folashade had gone to pay the mandatory N5000 the school had imposed as damages after a students’ protest allegedly led to destruction of the schools properties. But she, together with other students of AAP, was prevented from entering the school  by OP-MESA operatives stationed at the main entrance by the management.  She had paid her school fees since December 2015. However, payment of the said extortionate sum of N5000 had now been made the sole criterion for writing the semester’s examination regardless of whether or not she was part of the protest that led to the alleged destructions. The examination was to start on 18 April so Folashade and other students who had labored to raise the sum of N5000 went to the school entrance hoping the authorities would be kind enough to collect the money from them and allow them seat for the examinations. But to their amazement, they met a throng of armed operatives of OPMESA at the gate. Unrelenting, they decided to stay further at the gate, some standing, some seating, in the scorching sun, hoping that help would come.

Some hours later, the Rector drove in, had a few words with the security operatives and all hell broke loose. Folashade did not see them coming. For hours she had sat on a pavement by the school gate, lost in thought and dehydrated by the scorching sun. All she heard was a thundering voice: “you, what are you doing here? Go home”. She turned and in a pleading voice tried to explain why she could not go home and the implications of missing the exams. The next thing, one of the soldiers asked: “Are you stupid?” Folashade retorted that she was not stupid and as a woman, she expected a more civil treatment from the soldiers. Well those few harmless words were her undoing. Livid with anger that a student, and a woman, could bandy words with them, the soldiers descended on Folashade punching and beating her. They threatened to shoot her. They whipped her with an electric wire that tore through her cloth and the skin beneath. They ripped her cloth exposing her body in the process. All these happened in front of the gate of the Abaraham Adesanya Polytechnic after the Rector exchanged some words with the security operatives. Not done yet, she was bundled into a Hilux bus and driven to the Rector’s office to write a statement. By this time, she was bleeding from the gaping wounds on her body. After writing the statement, the DSA put her in a car and drove her, not to the nearest hospital, but to Topan police station where she was locked up in a cell. She was detained in a dirty cell, without medical treatment of any kind, from 12noon till 10:15pm when she was released on bail after a traditional ruler, Oba Beje Rokun of Oke-Agbo, intervened. 

As soon as Folashade got her freedom, she started seeking redress. The issue was published on social media by some sympathetic friends and online blogs and her lawyer also wrote the polytechnic on her behalf seeking justice. But this was not the end of her travail. 3 months after, on 19 July 2016, Folashade was dismissed by the Polytechnic for “insubordination/disobedience to constituted authority”, “false accusation, defamation of character, writing of false petition and peddling of false information about the Polytechnic management”, “misconduct”, “assault” and “failure to follow protocol in channeling/ seeking redress”. These are not only laughable allegations. They also show how desperate the polytechnic management is to punish Folashade who is a victim of assault, battery, harassment and unlawful detention.

No doubt, injustice reigns supreme in the banana republic called Nigeria and the motley crew of law enforcement and state security forces have been responsible for far more brutalization of Nigerians amidst other blood-cuddling violations. In fact, Folashade’s case is coming at a period when a number of students of higher institutions have been maimed and killed in different circumstances on some campuses this year by the police and other security forces. But for being a woman, Folashade’s brutalization highlight the total disregard for women and gender rights by security forces especially the police and the army who have been known to even rape female detainees in the cells.

The ERC is bent on seeking justice on this case in order to deter future violations. We therefore urge students unions, staff unions, other trade unions, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, women and gender-based organizations, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to add their voices to this issue until justice is seen to have been done in this matter not only to bring respite to Folashade but as a deterrent against such treatment of ordinary citizens by trigger happy security forces.

We call on the Ogun state government to intervene in this matter. We demand the demilitarization of campuses through the withdrawal of security forces, both uniformed and plainclothes, from campuses and a halt to the use of guns, tear gas and other weapons capable of causing bodily harm and death by police and other security forces to intervene in students’ gatherings and protests. Students are not criminals. Unfortunately, the conduct, method and reaction of the police towards students and other categories of young people promote a stigma of criminality as a definition of this segment of the nation’s population. We reject this and demand a total reform of the police and the army through the democratization of these forces so that rank and file officers can have the democratic right to form a union and therefore the right to disobey commands and orders to commit human right violations.

                                                                                          

Hassan Taiwo Soweto                                            Michael Ogundele                          

National Coordinator (07033697259)                 National Secretary

EDO POLLS: WAEC MUST BEAR THE FULL COST OF RELOCATING STUDENTS

Press statement

The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) strongly condemns the decision of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to put the cost of the relocation of 1,742 candidates sitting for the ongoing November/December West African Senior School Certificate examination in Edo state to Ondo and Delta states on poor working class parents and guardians. We consider this an irresponsible, exploitative and insensitive decision on the part of WAEC.

According to a report by Punch newspaper of Friday September 2, 2016, WAEC took the decision to relocate the candidates because of the Edo state gubernatorial elections which is to take place on September 10, the day the candidates are expected to sit for Mathematics 1 and 2.

We demand that WAEC bear the full cost of this relocation including cost of transportation and, where needed, accommodation of the candidates. WAEC must also ensure the safety of the candidates as they travel from Edo state to the designated centres in Ondo and Delta states. Already the candidates have already paid the full cost of the examination this year as advertised by WAEC. Placing extra costs of them as a result of unforeseen circumstances is exploitative and insensitive especially at this period when working class parents have seen their living conditions crash as a result of the economic recession.

As a public institution, WAEC has a responsibility towards candidates, their parents and guardians. That responsibility involves ensuring that in circumstances of this nature, candidates, their parents and guardians are not unnecessarily over burdened. As far as we are concerned, since the candidates and their parents were not responsible for the relocation, which was forced by the coincidence of the examination date with the date of the Edo gubernatorial elections, WAEC must bear the full cost including ensuring a hitch free exercise and the safety of the candidates. Anything other than this would amount to gross irresponsibility on the part of WAEC.

                                                                                          

Hassan Taiwo Soweto                                            Michael Ogundele                          

National Coordinator (07033697259)                 National Secretary

ERC CONDEMNS INTERFERENCE IN STUDENTS` UNION ACTIVITIES IN LAUTECH AND POLY IBADAN BY THE MANAGEMENTS

Prof. Gbadegesin-led management of LAUTECH must re-open the university and restore the suspended students’ union without further delay!

*For Adequate and proper funding of LAUTECH and POLYIBADAN!

Press statement

The Education Rights Campaign (ERC),Oyo State Chapter strongly decries and condemns the increasing rate of interference of  managements of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, Ogbomosho and the Polytechnic of Ibadan in the day to day running of students union activities at the respective institutions.

Recently, the Prof. Gbadegesin-led management of LAUTECH arbitrarily  suspended the activities of the students’ union of the institution for protesting the deplorable welfare condition of students in the institution while Prof. Fawole-led management of the Polytechnic of Ibadan also dissolved the democratically elected leadership of  students’ union.

We demand the immediate restoration of independent students unionism in both institutions and immediate reopening of LAUTECH. Also, the ERC condemns the continuous poor funding of LAUTECH by the APC-led governments in Osun and Oyo States. The ERC decries the poor funding of LAUTECH and also POLYIBADAN because  it is responsible for the prevailing poor welfare condition of both workers and students as well as inadequate facilities in these institutions. Except the crisis of poor funding of these institutions is solved, the incessant industrial disputes and students protests that often lead to the disruptions of the academic activities will continue unabated.

Among the excuses the Fawole-led management of the Polytechnic Ibadan advanced to justify its action is the alleged misappropriation of the union’s fund by the students’ leaders. The entire leadership of the union except the Public Relation Officer (PRO) were alleged of embezzling union money worth millions of Naira. No doubt, the alleged conduct of the affected students is highly condemnable. However, the unilateral action of the management to dissolve the entire executives including the PRO, who was exonerated from the corruption cases  without allowing students and necessary organs of the union to exercise the democratic power conferred by the constitution of the union to deal with the situation, is clearly undue interference in independent students unionism by the school management.

To us in the ERC, both the management and anti-poor politicians outside the campus are responsible for entrenching the corruption and disorientation that now bedevils the students’ movement today. For instance, most managements of tertiary institutions including LAUTECH and POLY IBADAN are guilty of the inglorious act in which students union leaders are often bribed with money in the bid to prevent mass protest and resistance of students against poor welfare conditions and anti-poor policies like increase in school fees. This is against the background of the  failure of successive governments to ensure adequate and proper funding of these institutions. It is in the same vein that the capitalist politicians regardless of their party affiliations also contribute largely to the growing trend of corruption among students leaders today especially when they induce and bribe them with public money towards achieving their self-serving political agenda.

Independent and mass based students’ unionism is an inalienable right of every Nigeria students. This is supported by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. So the ERC believes that it is criminal for any management of any institution to indulge in interference including the act of suspending the activities of the students union under whatever guise.

It is in view of this that ERC describes the suspension of the activities of LAUTECH by the Prof. Gbadegesin-led management of the institution and dissolution of the leadership of the Students Union of the Polytehnic Ibadan by the Prof. Fawole-led management as infringements of the democratic rights of students who are members of these unions.

In conclusion, the ERC calls on pro-masses organizations, trade unions and the general public to prevail on Senator Ajimobi and Aregbesola-governments of Oyo and Osun respectively to adequately fund education at all levels (from primary schools to tertiary institutions) in both states. We also call on the Prof Gbadegesin-led management of LAUTECH to open the university without no further delay.

Segun Ogun

ERC, Oyo State Coordinator