Being the text of a press conference addressed by the leadership of SAVE EDUCATION AND REOPEN LAUTECH COALITION (SERAL-C) by 11am at the correspondent Chapels, Mokola, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
RE-OPEN LAUTECH NOW!
NO TO FEE HIKE; MEET DEMANDS OF STRIKING UNIONS AND IMPROVED FUNDING AND DEMOCRATIC MANAGEMENT OF LAUTECH NOW!!
PROTOCOL:
Members and leaders of civil society organizations here present; reputable students of LAUTECH and across Nigeria tertiary institutions here present and Gentlemen/ladies of the press.
INTRODUCTION:
We appreciate your presence here today and the apt attention you have given to various developments that have been unfolding in the last seven months in Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, Ogbomosho. This is quite commendable and once again shown how vital and conspicuous the role of the press in the struggle towards the liberation and emancipation of the downtrodden.
The Save Education and Reopen LAUTECH Coalition (SERAL-C) is a pro-students platform initiated at the congress of LAUTECH students toward a campaign for the re-opening; proper and adequate funding of LAUTECH. The SERAL-C is conglomerations of many campus pro-students organizations like Liberal movement, LM, National Liberty Vanguard, NLV; Democratic Socialist Movement, DSM and other civil society/socialist groups like Alliance of Nigerian Students against Neoliberal Attacks (ANSA), Education Right Campaign, ERC; United Action for Democracy (UAD) and Student and Youth Activists Support Initiative (SAYASI).
Behind the formation of SERAL-C is the need to provide the generality of LAUTECH`s students with an alternative platform through which they can defend and advance their aspirations and democratic rights especial in a situation that Students` union platform has been proscribed by Prof. Gbadegesin-led management of the institution.
THE TRUTH BEHIND THE CONTINUE CLOSURE OF LAUTECH
The Prof. Gbadegesin-led management of LAUTECH announced the closure of the University on 13th of June 2016 under the most specious guise of an alien mid-semester break. Initially, most students and general public were made to belief by the university management through its falsehearted posture that the closure was due to students’ agitation against the unprincipled interference of the management during the conduct of the Students’ Union election held few weeks earlier. This was the kind of erroneous belief under most students were made to groan for months until we began understand that the closure was a direct consequence of the inability of the two state governments to pay the salaries and allowances of workers in the school. This is a result of the fact that both states did not pay over 22 months of subvention that was necessary for the smooth running of the school.
This shows that for a long time, LAUTECH has been groaning under a gruesome state of underfunding. The 26 year old University despite priding itself has a two time best state University in Nigeria and the third best University in the country, cannot boast of a single hostel accommodation, modern and adequate learning facilities neither can it be confident of a near satisfactory laboratory or sufficient lecture theaters.
Our university has now been deserted with an industrial action that currently lingers for over eight months. Numerous protests had been staged to call both governments to the altar of reason; demanding the immediate reopening of LAUTECH. The most recent of the protests witnessed brutal repression by the Nigerian police under the command of the Oyo State government. While the embattled governors remain adamant on the need to adequately fund the institution and pay the salaries/allowances of the striking Unions, our students are languishing in the pool of idleness, wasting away and doing nothing other than being forced to be victims of a lopsided and irresponsible education system.
While it has been reported that the Osun state allegedly owes more of the funding debts, this does not vindicate the Oyo state government that is known for her anti-poor attitude towards public education. The two states are run by the capitalist All Progressives Congress (APC) ruling party, and therefore share the same pro-commercialization underfunding policies on the public education sector.
In particular, the Ajimobi-led Oyo state government has no leverage to claim a moral high ground over his fellow anti-poor Osun state governor, Aregbesola. We must all recall the magnificent seven-week strike/mass protests of Oyo state workers, teachers and pupils last year over unpaid wages and attempts by the Oyo state government to sell off public secondary schools under the guise of Public Private Partnership (PPP). At the moment, almost all the state-owned tertiary institutions in Oyo state are either on strike or at different stages of agitations over unpaid salaries and dwindling subventions.
Therefore, we authors of the argment that one state is better than other as the agents of both state government to cause division among workers and students. Our stance that all workers, students and the mass of people of Oyo and Osun states must be united in a common struggle to fight for improved funding of LAUECH, re-opening of the institution and provision of adequate facilities for quality education.
NO TO FEE HIKE! FOR INCREASED SUBVENTION TO LAUTECH
Despite the decline in the revenue from the FG, it is our opinion that is not true, that the two state governments did not have enough financial resources at their disposal to have avoided this closure in the first instance. It is the misappropriation and financial corruption of both state governments that have led to the inability to pay the workers’ wages, not shortage of funds. The shared funding responsibility on the two states was meant to ensure that the university is appropriately funded, yet the activities of the university have been brought to an abrupt stop due to low funding.
It is with this premise that we reject in advance the proposal to increase the school fees of the students by 65% and 75% for indigenes and non-indigenes respectively, in order to cover for the shortage of funds. The fee increment is not only anti-poor but also criminal especially against the background that parents being owed salaries and those being paid half-salaries are the ones expected to provide the funds to run the school. We hold that any increment will only deprive many students of the ability to afford tertiary education and on this basis.
We strongly advise the state governments to desist from such disruptive plans. The fee increment, as proposed by Governor Ajimobi at a town hall meeting, would raise the fee of the school to about N350, 000. But the comment of the governor of Oyo state, Ajimobi, as reported by Premium Times on December 19, 2016 that ‘there are universities that operate without subvention’ expresses concretely that the state governments are not interested in the upward funding of the university, as the governments audaciously compare the institution to private university
NO TO REPRESSION! FOR RESPECT OF DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO INDEPENDENT STUDENTS UNIONISM
We also condemn the totalitarian tendencies entrenched in the communiqué of the meeting of the two states which was published in the Vanguard of October, 21st 2016, that ‘the duo states hereby enjoin all residents of the two states as well as other stakeholders including students, teachers and workers to go about their lawful duties… The states warned that anyone or group that does otherwise will face the full wrath of the law’. The above quote defeats all logic of diplomatic governance as governors are asking unpaid workers to go to work instead of paying them. Also, the statement is enough grounds for the indictment of the state governments in the shooting of peacefully protesting students on the 9th of December the same year, as allegedly ordered by the governor of Oyo state. In fact, the tyranny was so pronounced that the police were ordered to arrest the protesting students.
We demand a halt to all repressions either against students or workers. Also we demand that students’ democratic rights to peaceful protest and independent unionism be respected. Together with the attacks on workers of the institution, students of LAUTECH are also denied the right to independent unionism. Using the pretext of a crisis during the last Students Union elections, the authorities in a brazen and despotic manner proscribed the union thus denying the mass of students a legitimate voice and platform to articulate their demands. We demand for immediate lift of ban placed by Prof. Gbadegesin-led management on our Union. We must be allowed to democratically run our union without interference from the authorities.
OUR STANCE ON GOVERNMENT MEETING WITH “NANS”
Our attention has been drawn to a meeting allegedly summoned by the Senator Ajimobi-led government with a factional leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) over the lingering closure and industrial dispute that had crippled the entire academics and administrative activities in our school for the last seven (7) months.
SERAH-C dissociates itself from this meeting and holds that such a meeting with NANS leadership which has never had any prior and democratic discussion with the rank and file students of LAUTECH lacks any legitimacy and its outcome is not binding on LAUTECH students.
This is must not be misconstrued as a disclaimer of NANS as a supposed legitimate platform of Nigeria Students. The point however, is that NANS that has never deem it fit to facilitate any serious and democratic meeting with entire LADOKITES to be able to know their demands and aspirations which ordinarily should be the basis for any meeting if there will be any at all, lacks every credibility to attend or facilitate any meeting whatsoever on behalf of LAUTECH Students.
CONCLUSION
It is on this note that we call on the entire students’ movement, the labour movement, civil society organizations and the general public to rise to the aid of LAUTECH staff and students by condemning the refusal of Osun and Oyo states to fulfill their responsibilities.
OUR DEMANDS:
(1) Immediate and Unconditional re-opening of LAUTECH
(2) Immediate payment of all outstanding salaries and allowances of striking workers
(3) No to fee hike
(4) Improved funding and democratic management of LAUTECH now
( 5) Immediate restoration of LAUTECH Student’ Union
Thank you all for listening
Comrade Omoakin Murudeen aka MKO
Secretary for SERAH-C
All political organizations of LAUTECH (National Liberty Vanguard, Liberal Movement, The group and Democratic Socialist Movement)………
Alliance of Nigerian Students against Neoliberal Attacks (ANSA)………
Education Right Campaign (ERC)………..
Student and Youth Activists Support Initiative (SAYASI)…………..
