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Socialist Democracy March - April 2005  Index

For a host of reasons, the on-going national political reform conference represents the most topical political development of the day. Minus feeble and incoherent opposition by a few members of the capitalist class across the country, the overwhelming majority of the capitalist class appeared, for once, to be united over this major political development. The ANPP and the AD controlled states, just like their counterparts in the PDP controlled states had, without any special prodding, nominated their allotted delegates as at when requested. Hitherto, prominent members of the ruling class, especially from the northern part of the country and particularly those from what is called the core north that had always maintained a vehement opposition towards the clamour for the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference and even of a national conference without sovereignty seemed, for now, to have reconciled themselves to the new reality.

Nationalist groups and nationalist oriented politicians most especially, from the southern part of the country, which hitherto had been agitating for one form of separation or secession have equally come round to argue that all they ever wanted is "true federalism" and "unity". Even labour leaders are not left out of this show of "National unity". As far as the labour leaders are concerned, President Obasanjo's government national confab may not fully meet with the aspirations of the people. Nonetheless, they still hold the belief that their own cooption and participation in the confab can further tilt the scale in favour of the masses.

Before and since after inauguration, the confab has emerged as one issue that overwhelmingly dominates the media and public discussion in general, particularly among the elite. Expectedly, President Obasanjo himself has been waxing eloquent on the wonderful things that are expected to be achieved by the confab. Hear him: "History has presented us with the opportunity to reassess, refocus, redefine and redesign our political landscape in a direction that would strengthen the bonds of unity, enhance the process of democratic consolidation, strengthen the structures so as to solidify those values that promote democracy, good governance and good neighbourliness and open boundless opportunities for all Nigerians to be, and to feel that they are part of the evolving political process and socio-economic advancement". High hopes are being raised about the birth of a new Nigeria. But what really can the masses expect from this so much talked about national confab?

When all the issues and circumstances surrounding President Obasanjo's confab are critically examined, it is not very difficult to see that the whole exercise is no more than the packaging of an expired wine in a contaminated container. A mere glance at the credentials/pedigrees of most members of the so-called confab reveals a horrified catalogue of those elements that have ruled and ruined Nigeria before plus a large dose of some that were actually disgraced out of power for one fraudulent conduct or another. From this point alone, it should be obvious to an average conscious working class person/leader that President Obasanjo's confab is no more than a political project designed to find relevance for the prominent capitalist elements that had held power before but had been elbowed aside or that have not been that much relevant in the current dispensation.

Right from beginning, the regime has left no one in doubt that its confab is a grand design for the perpetuation of the hateful status quo. This explains why its 400 member overwhelmingly male confab is completely made up of handpicked and appointed prominent members of the capitalist ruling class across the country. For the regime, the stake is so high that it could not even trust a highly manipulated election to produce the required delegates that will work in accordance with its own pre-conceived conclusions.

Here, it should be stressed that President Obasanjo's game plan is to forge, as much as possible, some kind of unity among the thieving members of the capitalist class in lieu of 2007 general elections. As a conscious capitalist statesman, President Obasanjo knows very well that the working masses are increasingly showing active opposition to all anti-poor, pro-rich capitalist policies. And for this reason, he has convoked the on-going confab, drawing in labour leaders, hoping that self-enlightened considerations by members of the capitalist class across ethno-religious divides would enable them to reach some agreements among themselves with a view to narrow down intra-class conflicts which might further undermine and damage their reputation before the masses as 2007 inches nearer.

The agenda or lack of an agenda by Obasanjo's confab is one sure underlining factor which shows that the whole exercise is nothing more than a grand and expensive journey to nowhere. According to President Obasanjo, state governors and most members of the confab, the issue of Nigeria, as one corporate political entity, is "non-negotiable". Presidential system is also to be taken for granted and so, all talks of a return to the parliamentary system seen by some as cheaper to run and more democratic in nature are regarded as sheer rubbish. To the Obasanjo's government, all is fundamentally correct with Nigeria! In this respect, capitalist politicians arguing for the phasing out of the state system in favour of fewer but bigger and financially stronger regions have been told to shut up because according to President Obasanjo, the regions were in the first instance broken into the states because of their inadequacies to meet the Nigerian situation!

While politicians and delegates, most especially from the South-South part of the country, are expected to demand that 50% of revenue generated from any part of the country be kept within that part, none of the delegates, North and South, can be expected to raise for discussion the current unjust economic arrangement where only one percent consumes 80% of all nationally generated wealth. In the last week of February 2005, a whooping sum of N318 billion of a so-called of "oil windfall" was shared by the federal, state and local governments. Yet, the nation's education and health sectors for instance continue its steady decay and destruction due to gross under funding. An estimate by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) says that an average annual investment of N24 billion on tertiary education can rapidly enhance the quality and quantity of university education being given to Nigerian youth. Sadly, neither the government, the authors of the confab, nor the confab members regard issues affecting the living standard of the masses as serious enough to demand a special attention. While unbudgeted money is being earned and shared, government at the same time is threatening education and health workers fighting for improved services and working conditions with a policy of "no-work, no-pay".

Again, the pro-rich, pro-imperialist policy of converting public enterprises and resources into a private property of a few capitalist incorporations and individuals is something taken for granted by all the greedy, self-serving elements that dominate the so-called confab. And for this reason, the neo-liberal policies of privatisation and liberalisation, which by their nature have been responsible for the current unprecedented and unrelenting mass misery in the midst of super and inexhaustible abundance shall not be discussed or reviewed at Obasanjo's so-called national confab.

Very significantly, the regime has not bothered to pass any law to govern the existence and activities of the so-called conference as if to underline the fact that the whole confab show is no more than a distraction to keep potential opposition busy while the ruling parties are busy plotting how to perpetuate themselves in power come 2007 and thereafter. Suffice to stress, this brutally means that whatever resolutions passed by the confab may be totally ignored by the executive and the legislature. In the absence of an enabling law, and being appointees of those in governments, any resolutions of the ongoing confab cannot be legally enforced. The executive may not even bother to send these resolutions to the National Assembly in order to pass them as laws. Even if they are sent to the National Assembly, it is not given that they will ever be passed into laws.

Furthermore, any aggrieved person or group of persons can, as things stand, apply to court to set aside the entire confab together with its resolutions and recommendations on the basis that the whole show has no legal or constitutional foundation! Against the background of the fate that befell the Oputa Panel (the commission that investigates rights abuses under military rule) when the Supreme Court ruled that the creation of the panel and its resolutions and recommendations were illegal and unconstitutional, this perspective cannot be regarded as an idle speculation by any reasonable person.

Finally, president Obasanjo and the three ruling parties, PDP, ANPP & AD, had no democratic pedigree upon which a reasonable assumption of a genuine democratisation project can emanate. All members of these three parties in power at federal, state and local government levels outrightly bought and stole their mandates, severally and collectively. This is the irrefutable proof that has now been confirmed by even the judiciary, with respect to the so-called 2003 elections and thereafter. Therefore, it will be the height of political imbecility to expect these political gangsters to come up with a political agenda that will actually politically and democratically empower the working masses to better their own lot.

Against the above outlined background, we in the DSM restate, without any fear of contradiction, that nothing positive will come to the masses as a result of this so-called national confab. By its conducts so far and the inherent historical antagonism that exists between different sections of the capitalist ruling class, this confab will not be able to effect any appreciable alteration of the prevailing constitution and other statutes. To start with, the very unjust parameter which forms the basis of the current much hated Nigeria constitutes the very basis upon which the confab's delegates were chosen. It should be stressed that this is one of the main reasons why those sections of the ruling class from the northern part of the country which hitherto had always opposed the idea of a national conference are for now prepared to go along with the charade, fully secured in the knowledge that any serious reform that can threaten the status quo which they perceive as not being their own sectional interest can always be blocked at the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly respectively, using their numerical strength under the prevailing legislative dispensation!

Theoretically, the confab may agree to increase revenue sharing on the basis of 50% to the federation account and 50% for the producing areas or the community. Though in reality, it will take a titanic battle to get other sections of the ruling class that are currently challenging the 13% revenue allocation to oil producing states as too much to just by mere resolution of an unelected body, accept to increase revenue sharing to 50% on the principle of area of derivation. Theoretically too, other seemingly beneficial resolutions may also get passed by the confab. However, on the basis of self-serving nature of the capitalist system and politicians, these will not automatically translate into better lives for the working masses of any given part of the country. For the past six years of civil rule, governments across the country, courtesy of steady rise in oil prices internationally, have been making more money while simultaneously all the indices of living conditions of the masses have been growing from bad to worst.

Against this background, we in the DSM consider the participation of the NLC and TUC leaderships in Obasanjo's so-called confab as a monumental tragedy in that their participation only helped to lend credence to an incredible process while at the same time diverting the attention of the labour movement and the working masses in general from what they ought to be doing in order to bring to a permanent end, mass poverty in the face of a limitless abundance.

The NLC leadership has been reported to demand the reduction of the powers presently enjoyed by the President and Governors. To say the least, this demand is utopia; it is tantamount to asking oppressors to voluntarily give up their oppression! Even if miraculously, the powers currently enjoyed by the President and Governors are reduced, so long as same are enjoyed or left in the hands of other layer of capitalist elements, this will merely mean the continuation of business as usual and the prolongation of the prevailing vicious circle for the masses. The NLC delegates to the conference had also called for full employment for all employable persons. This is generally a correct demand. However, within the framework of capitalism with its array of neo-liberal policies of privatisation, commercialisation of social services etc, this demand can never go beyond mere rhetorics and cheap propaganda. To be talking of full employment without mobilizing the working masses to remove from power the capitalist ruling class whose major preoccupation in public and private sectors is mass retrenchment is like singing funeral dirge in a wedding ceremony!

Tragically, since November last year the NLC leaders have retreated from leading serious struggles against the rotten elite ruling the country. Six times - between June 2000 and October last year - the working people of Nigeria, through nationwide general strikes and protests resoundingly expressed their total objection to the pro-rich, anti-poor, neo-liberal policies of the Obasanjo capitalist government. Often, the NLC leaders did not ensure that these struggles won decisive victories but they showed how Labour could rally almost the entire country behind its banner. A further general strike was planned for last November 16, 2004 but the NLC leaders called it off at the last minute and have since then turned their attention to trying to win favours of the elite. However, the working masses and poor will not get much joy from these tactics.

Therefore, we in the DSM boldly assert that the solution to the socio-economic and political crises cannot be found in the Obasanjo's national dialogue. The working people have to start breaking away from the pro-capitalist/pro- imperialist socio-economic arrangement of the country with the ultimate agenda of the socialist reconstruction of the society.

What NLC needs to do but which unfortunately its leaders are running away from, because of their own pro-capitalist outlook and sentiments, is a practical step to build a broad democratic discussion that will give birth to a coherent policy and strategy which can bring to power a working people's government that will implement pro-people policies that can bring permanent decent life for the people. Therefore, against Obasanjo's fake undemocratic and unrepresentative conference which the NLC has embraced, we in the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) have called for the "trade union leaders and all pro-labour activists and socialists, to as a matter of urgency, take immediate, practical steps to convey a conference of all pro-labour groups, unions, associations and other forces, with a goal of forging LASCO with all other mass organisations of the working people, including pro-masses parties like the National Conscience Party, etc into an alternative mass working peoples party different in orientation and approach from all the existing capitalist, pro-rich, pro-imperialist parties, in and outside government, at federal and state levels. Right from the beginning, the revolutionary transformation of the prevailing unjust economic and political arrangements must be boldly placed in the frontline of the party's agenda." (Quoted from SD Special Edition on Obasanjo�s National Political Reform Conference).

The point should also be stressed that the threat by PRONACO to organise its own separate "National Conference" or " Sovereign National Conference" in the given political situation, with the best of intention, will only help the capitalist ruling class to divert the attention of the labour movement and working masses from drawing the necessary conclusion to build the powerful Pan Nigeria working masses political platform needed to successfully wrestle power from their capitalist exploiters and oppressors. Only such a movement could defend the rights of all the different people in Nigeria.

What the conditions of the working people required today are labour and pro-masses leaders that are prepared to come up with a coherent economic and political package designed to improve the living and political conditions of the masses in all ramifications. In practical term, this will require that labour leaders, PRONACO leaders, LASCO leaders etc, right now should come up with a real political and economic alternative to the anti-peoples' policies being implemented by all the ruling parties and on this basis make a direct appeal to the masses to get organised and capture political power from the self serving capitalist politicians across the country. Obviously, there has to be a genuine democratic debate over what concrete programme is needed and we in the DSM will be arguing for a socialist alternative.

What the situation requires today are pro-masses leaders that are ready to directly take their cases to the working class committees and amongst the poor masses, in all nooks and crannies of Nigeria, not those seeking to organise a mere workshop in the confines of a hotel premises. It should be stressed very well, that what we need is a labour/pro-masses/NCP leadership that will, alongside struggling on today's issues, right now begin the democratic selections and presentation of Presidential, Governorship, Senatorial, House of Assembly etc candidates to the electorates, in preparation for the 2007 general elections.

The capitalist politicians will prefer and can afford to defer their campaign till the last minute. One, they are in power already. Two, they have nothing positive to offer the masses, so the shorter the campaign period the better. Three, their main campaign strategy is always to use money and state apparatuses to win at all cost not to reach out to the masses. On the contrary, a genuine pro-masses party cannot flourish let alone being strong enough to displace from power, the self-serving capitalist politicians, unless built on the basis of day-to-day interaction and intervention in the daily struggles of the masses. So right from now, a genuine pro-labour/masses political platform/movement should be prepared to immediately come up with its own alternative economic and political agenda too and importantly, its chosen representatives/flag bearers who will lead the struggle for the actualisation of these agenda. This more than anything else will enable the masses to have a proper appreciation of the preparedness and viability of a genuine working people's political alternative to the prevailing hopelessness offered by the bourgeois parties. Without this kind of approach, the year 2007 general elections will come and meet, once again, the working masses without a viable political platform.

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The Obasanjo government has revealed its iron-will to take its unpopular, anti-poor education commercialisation/ privatisation programme to a logical conclusion. This is more clearly demonstrated by the latest directive to authorities of higher institutions to commence immediately the process of transfer of student hostels to private estate managers, which indeed is a strategic step towards the wholesale privatisation of all public higher institutions of learning in accordance with the dictate of the government's imperialist motivated programme of neo-liberal capitalist reforms.

Already, authorities of some higher institutions have concluded preparation on how to implement this anti student policy. This has triggered some pockets of opposition being mounted by students across the country.

If implemented, the policy will inevitably take accommodation facilities out of the reach of overwhelming majority of students, mainly from poor working class backgrounds. It will also add to the increasingly unbearable cost of education without commensurate improvement in studying and living conditions on campuses, as the estate managers will naturally prioritise profit interest over the essential needs in the hostels.

In response to the looming attack, the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS Zone D, has come up with a comprehensive package of campaign against, not only the proposed hostel privatisation but also the entire unwholesome attack on education. As part of the campaign, NANS Zone D, at its senate meeting between February 5 and 6, 2005 at Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education Ijanikin, Lagos, scheduled March 16, 2005 as a DAY OF ACTION. This DAY OF ACTION, which is meant to protest the proposed privatisation of student hostels, poor funding of education, sub-standard living and studying conditions on campuses, education commercialization, victimization of student and worker activists, will include lecture boycotts, peaceful protests, massive distribution of campaign materials, public enlightenment activities, etc.

In preparation for the day of action, at least several thousands of leaflets and posters have been distributed by the NANS Zone D together with Education Right Campaign, ERC.

The effort of the NANS Zone D is commendable, but the DAY OF ACTION and other subsequent programmes should be made as part of activities to build a national movement of students and other progressive segments of the population, drawing on the experience of student struggles in the past, notably the 1978 "Ali-must-go" anti-education commercialisation struggles and a similar movement of the students in 1984. Therefore, the Zone D should start reaching out to the other zones of NANS and the new national leadership of the association in order to make the campaign assume a national character. They should canvass for a broader national day of action at a later date, if the other zones cannot join March 16 action. Of course, the campaign is expected to be a continuous exercise.

The DAY OF ACTION by NANS Zone D and the one expected to be declared by the national body of students, if well mobilised and properly coordinated, would send signals to government and authorities of institutions that the students� movement would not watch helplessly a group of brigands stealing public properties in the name of privatisation. It would also reawaken the consciousness of the mass of students to the need to struggle against the education commercialisation policy of the Obasanjo government in particular and the entire IMF/World Bank inspired polices of deregulation of the oil sector and intermittent increases in prices of oil products, privatisation of key sectors of the economy, cut in spending on education, healthcare and other social necessities, the general economic hardship flowing from the so-called neo-liberal reforms and the urgent need for a political alternative.

To enhance the strength, potency and efficacy of the campaign, students alone must not be left with the struggle to save education. The youths, pro-masses organisations and the working people including the labour, the teaching and non-teaching staff must actively support the historic movement. The hostel privatisation and all forms of education commercialisation will add to the already outrageous cost of education. While the prevailing culture of victimisation is meant to create atmosphere of fear and the lack of will for resistance against anti student, anti-worker policies in our institutions.

Therefore, in pursuing the campaign, NANS should reach out to interest groups in the education sector (ASUU, NASU, SSANU, COEASU, ASUP, NUT, etc.), the labour (NLC, TUC, CFTU) and other sympathetic working people organisations on the need for collaborative efforts to defeat this and other policies of the government on education, including those affecting staff like the obnoxious, anti-union, trouble generating "no-work-no-pay" policy. More importantly, the Labour and the civil society groups should see hostel privatisation, education commercialisation and the entire struggles in the education sector a labour issue, as students are workers in training.

At the root of the systemic degeneration of the public education system in general and hostel facilities in particular is the deliberate under-funding of the sector by successive governments in Nigeria and especially, the inveterate anti-poor, pro-imperialist government of Obasanjo, done in order to create spurious arguments to justify the criminal transfer of public properties to themselves and their cronies in the guise of privatisation. It is common knowledge that Obasanjo, his vice, Atiku now have licenses to operate private universities!

Chronic under-funding, corruption, wastages, absence of democratic ethos amongst others have made public education system continuously endangered. These are some of deliberate machinations by government to prop-up the commercialisation and privatisation option, the beneficiaries of which are the same government officials and associates, responsible for running aground the public institutions. In spite of the enormous collectively owned wealth of the country, over the years, fiscal allocation to the education sector has witnessed a progressive decline. For instance, the budgetary allocation to education fell from 12.22% in 1985 to 4.6% in 2003, and barely 6% in 2005; whereas UNESCO recommends that developing economies like Nigeria should pursue a 26% minimum. As a consequence, educational facilities have collapsed greatly, standards have fallen and there is massive brain drain. An estimated 52% shortage of academic staff exists in universities alone. Not only that, access to educational facilities has been greatly reduced. Year in year out, while over a million students sit for the university matriculation examinations, existing universities have capacity to absorb only a paltry 150,000! By 2010, only a token 0.16 million of the qualified 6.3 million students or a mere 2.4% will get access to university education.

While population of school age youth is exploding, the government is stubbornly unwilling to expand public educational opportunities. In the few institutions that still exist, living and learning conditions are pitiable. Faced with this contrived collapse in the public education system, many parents think of turning to the private sector to educate their children, but obviously most cannot afford the huge school fees the profit-driven private institutions charge.

Experience has shown that the struggle to save the education system is ultimately a political struggle. Even if Obasanjo and the ruling capitalist clique are compelled to beat a retreat on the latest issue of hostel privatisation and other issues, this does not foreclose the reintroduction of similar or more terrible policies in the future. These anti-poor policies are not being implemented by accident or because Obasanjo has 'bad advisers'. Contrariwise, they form the very essence of governance under the prevailing neo-liberal capitalist arrangement. The struggle against hostel privatisation, education privatisation and commercialisation, etc must therefore be linked inevitably with the struggle to kick out the incurably anti-poor, capitalist government of Obasanjo and the crystallization of a political alternative in the form of a workers' and poor peasants' government built on a democratic socialist foundation. To this end, NANS needs also to join the demand for labour and its civil society allies that have been active in waging struggles against government's anti-poor policy in the oil sector and the economy to crystallize into a political alternative to the Obasanjo government and its variants in the other dominant bourgeois parties. To be able to attract the support of the mass of poor working people, such a structure must be based on a clear anti-capitalist programme.

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Make poverty and inequality history

Fight the system of poverty and inequality

Fight capitalism

 

Over the last decade, the number of women in the global labour force has increased by 200 million. In 2004, women accounted for 1.1 billion of the 2.8 billion people officially in work. This means women make up 40% of the global workforce. But, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), women are less likely to hold regular paid jobs and more likely to be in the informal economy, outside legal and regulatory frameworks. Moreover, women generally earn less than men for the same type of work, even in female dominated occupations.

The vast majority of women today, no matter what part of the world they live in, are hit hardest by the neo-liberal attacks carried out against the working class as a whole. Mass lay offs, insecure working conditions, low pay, attacks on the welfare state, on pension rights, and on childcare facilities, as well as attacks on women's reproductive rights, will not only lead to an increase in women's poverty and suffering but, most likely, will also lead to an increasing political radicalisation of women and working class women, in particular.

The next period will undoubtedly see an increase in working class struggles across the world and working class women will certainly put their stamp on the struggles to come.

Women make up 60% of the world's workforce earning less than a $1 a day. This figure, and the level of poverty, in general, will undoubtedly increase once the full scale of the repercussions of the Tsunami disaster is revealed. The Tsunami, and the criminal neglect on the part of imperialism and of anti-working class governments in not installing early warning systems in the Indian Ocean, took nearly 300,000 lives. In addition, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that 1 million jobs have been lost in Sri Lanka and Indonesia alone, as a consequence of the Tsunami.

Today, the ILO claims that between 50-60% of the affected people will be able to earn their own living again by the end of 2005, providing aid and support can be mobilised rapidly.

Given the bad record of capitalist governments in delivering promised aid and money, this development is very unlikely unless those governments come under tremendous pressure from below.

As a result of capitalist governments' corruption, bias, incompetence and unwillingness to substantially rebuild the lives of the Tsunami affected people, we will see many more dying from poverty related diseases. But we will also see, as always, that the majority of refugees and the most vulnerable victims of the disaster will be women and children.

It has been the re-introduction of capitalism in the former Soviet Union, and other countries in Eastern Europe, the slaughtering of all the advances of the planned economy, and the subsequent dramatic increase in poverty, that is primarily responsible for the increase in prostitution and sex trafficking in and from those countries.

Human trafficking is nothing else but the modern practice of slavery and the most brutal form of exploitation. It is the third largest criminal industry in the world today, following arms and drug dealing. It is the fastest growing criminal industry and is one of the most "lucrative" sectors of the trade in people, and involves prostitution, pornography, bride trafficking, and commercial sexual abuse of children.

Without disguise, sex trafficking exposes the brutal and greedy nature of capitalism, which strives to turn everyone and everything into commodities in order to make profits, no matter at what cost. Sex trafficking generates billions of dollars in profit at a very low risk for the traffickers.

Promises of a better life, an end to a life of misery, are some of the reasons women and girls get trapped into the vicious world of sex trafficking. Every year, an estimated 30-50,000 women and children are trafficked into the US alone.

Once in the US, a woman can earn from her captors an average of U$ 30,000 a week by being raped around 20 times a day, seven days a week. If women refuse, they are beaten and sometimes killed.

Allegedly in order to improve the situation for prostitutes, some countries have introduced so-called 'tolerance zones' or have even declared prostitution legal.

The bitter reality of declaring prostitution legal was recently revealed by a woman in Germany, where prostitution was legalised in 2002. Recent changes in the unemployment law can force people to accept almost any job that is offered to them. An unemployed woman, IT specialist, was offered a job as a bar woman by the job centre. The bar turned out to be a brothel and the unemployed woman was expected to work as a prostitute. Refusing to work there, she was threatened with having her unemployment benefit cut. Similar cases were reported in the Netherlands. While public outrage makes it rather unlikely that such a policy will be implemented in those countries, at this stage, those are the facts created by legalisation of prostitution.

The beginnings of International Women's Day go back to the middle of the 19th Century and in those days expressed a mounting pressure for women's rights in the US and Europe. In the early years of the 20th century, the campaign for women's suffrage was one of the central demands of the women's movement and International Women's Day. It sometimes took decades of struggle before general suffrage was achieved in most parts of the world. Even today, one century later, it is still not a basic democratic right for every woman in the world. Where women do have the right to vote, working class women, like the working class in general, find it more difficult to find a party to vote for that can defends their interests.

The elections in Afghanistan, held in September 2004, were trumpeted by the pro-capitalist media and used as one reason to legitimise the invasion of the country after the horrific 9/11 attacks.

Special attention was given to the fact that 40% of the registered voters were female. This was presented as a huge step forward for women's rights in Afghanistan. While we welcome the fact that women were entitled to cast their vote, the situation for women in Afghanistan is still largely determined by feudal traditions and by remnants of the anti-women legislation previously introduced by the reactionary Taliban regime. The same is true for other parts of the world.

In Baluchistan, a province in Pakistan that is still dominated and ruled by tribal and feudal leaders, women are hardly visible in public life. Education for women is non-existent because it is not allowed by tribal law. Women are barely allowed to leave their homes. Honour killings, forced marriages, and other cruel, inhumane customs and traditions, are widely practiced.

According to traditional 'customs', a woman who meets a man she is not acquainted with needs to sit down on the ground and turn her back to this man. She has to remain in that position until the stranger has passed by.

While reactionary and feudal laws like this will not disappear over night, it is also a fact that capitalism is offering no way forward, economically and subsequently also culturally, to develop these countries. This is to a large extent why women stand no chance to break out of these horrific conditions.

The Socialist Movement in Pakistan, which is affiliated to the CWI, pays particular attention to the situation facing women. Last year, they held public meetings and special workshops on the question of domestic violence. The Socialist Movement comrades are also involved in a campaign to abolish the 'Hudood Laws', which are completely discriminatory and anti-women. For example, under these laws, a victim of rape needs the evidence of four males to prove the rape took place otherwise she will be prosecuted for 'adultery'.

As a consequence of speaking out against this repression, activists from the Socialist Movement campaign received threats from religious fundamentalists.

A very important part of the work of the campaign, however, is devoted to unionising women in the informal working sector, and to campaign for a mass working class party that would be at the forefront of campaigning for women's rights.

On a world scale, only 15.2% of representatives in national parliaments are women. At the same time, women are searching for parties which they believe will represent their interests. This is reflected in the discussion around the possible setting up of a Women's Party, initiated by a woman who has been an ex-leader of the Left Party in Sweden. In opinion polls, up to 20%- many of them low paid women workers- have indicated that they are considering voting for this party. As socialists, we do not believe that a higher representation of women MPs will automatically improve the situation of working class women. Their interests are not represented by female MPs, ministers or presidents, such as US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, Germany�s Minister for Health, Ulla Schmidt, the British Minister for Education, Ruth Kelly, or the Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, all of whom introduce policies that attack the working class. The two Belgian ministers that have most viciously attacked strikes by the largely female dominated health sector are female.

Nevertheless the low number of females in parliaments is an indication of the patriarchal character of politics today.

There can be no doubt that socialists welcome and, in fact, strive for a greater participation of working class women in politics and political activity.

The CWI campaigns for the building of new mass parties of the working class across the world. Wherever there are signs of the establishment of genuine formations created by the working class, the CWI is engaged in building those forces and campaigning for those forces to adopt a socialist programme.

In the last year, the formation of P-SOL (Party for Socialism and Liberty) in Brazil, and ASG (Work and Social Justice- the electoral alternative) in Germany, has marked a decisive step towards the building of such new workers' parties.

While the character of these new formations is not absolutely clear at this stage, their success and future development will also depend on what programme and campaigns they will put forward to fight and improve the living standards of working class women, to defend women's rights, and to what degree they will be able to involve working class women in struggles.

In order to improve the lives of working class women, socialists in these new parties need to fight for a programme that:

� rejects the neo-liberal attacks of the bosses and their governments

� organises resistance against redundancies

� fights for a reduction in the working week without loss of pay

� campaigns for full time jobs for all

� campaigns against low pay and for a decent minimum wage

� organises joint campaigns with the trade union movement to help unionise non-unionised work places

� fights for free and decent childcare facilities for all age groups

� defends the right of women to decide when and if they want to have children � campaigns against domestic violence, sexual harassment at work and all forms of discrimination in society.

Ultimately, for women to live life free from poverty and oppression of any kind, it is necessary to overthrow the profit ridden, capitalist system.

This can only be achieved by a mass movement of the working class that will nationalise and take into public control the big corporations and companies which have accumulated enormous wealth by exploiting the working class internationally.

Working class women will be vital in this struggle that will eventually lead to the emancipation of humankind and to true equality between men and women.

At the first 'All Russian Congress of Working Women', in October 1918, Lenin argued that "The experience of all liberation movements has shown that the success of a revolution depends on how much women take part in it".

This is still relevant today, and the success of building new strong mass parties of the working class depends on how much they manage to welcome and integrate working class women into their own ranks.

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The public health sector in Nigeria will be thrown into turmoil again if the government does not fully resolve the issues around short fall in the payment of emolument in 2004 that was at the centre of the dispute which led the physicians, under the auspices of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and other health workers into a six-week old strike. The workers were paid only 60% of their salaries. The strike was called off on January 23 after the government had announced the release of N8 billion to pay the short fall.

The doctors have issued another threat of strike to protest the lack of commitment of the government to the payment of outstanding salaries and arrears. According to NARD, weeks after the suspension of the last strike, the health workers in most of the teaching hospitals and federal medical centres have not been paid. The workers are also contending the anti-workers policy of "no work, no pay" as they were only paid few days out of the period of the strike.

From the antecedent of the government, this indication of looming industrial action may not be taken serious. Almost two months before the last major strike, the doctors had made their plan to embark on the action known to the government and the public if the anomalies were not rectified. In fact, they were on a two-day warning strike between November 8 and 9. According to NARD, no fewer than 20,000 persons died at various hospitals as a result of the six-week strike. This loss of lives out of sheer irresponsibility of the government is condemnable. Yet, it may not mind another strike that would result into another human disaster.

It will be recalled that for more than 2 months, between last year June and September, the health workers at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, except medical doctors, were on active strike that paralysed activities while it lasted over issues around welfare package, working conditions and decaying infrastructures. Hardly had they called off the strike when their counterparts at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos and Yaba Psychiatric Hospital embarked on industrial action that lasted closed to a month for similar demands.

The incessant strikes by doctors and other health workers are a metaphor of the unending crisis associated with the sorry state of the Nigeria health sector. The health care in Nigeria is embarrassingly ramshackle like every other social service like education, electricity, etc, in spite of the abundant wealth of the country. The workers are not well paid their emoluments and there are no adequate and functional facilities in hospitals to work with. The working conditions are not only terrible but also hazardous. There is increasing exodus of medical practitioners for greener pasture and enabling working conditions outside the country. The Guardian Newspaper sometime in February reported that Nigerians in the border towns with Niger Republic have to visit the neighbouring country for medical attention since they could not get any, even slightest medical treatment in their own motherland. Sadly, no hospital in Nigeria has facility to diagnose curable diseases like hepatitis at early stage until it becomes terminal in form of cancer. The decaying trends of our health institutions are still far worrisome than what we might have imagined with the recent withdrawal of the accreditation of surgery programme from Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), born out of the declining quantity and quality of surgical operations being performed over a period of time. According to the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) President, Wole Atoyebi, LUTH is the referral hospital with the largest number of surgeons and facilities in the country and yet, it has suffered much neglect.

Given the egregious decay and gloomy picture of the Nigerian health sector, it is no surprise, albeit shocking, that in the World Health Organisation's ranking of countries' health indicators, Nigeria, coming up 187th among 191 member states, is only ahead of some war-ravaged and crisis-laden countries like Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Sierra Leone. In overall, Nigeria's health status is worse than the average for sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, the poor state of our health sector has never made those in government to lose sleep. How could they when they have sleazy money looted from the treasury to foot the bill of medical treatment in America and Europe even for slightest ailment?

Whereas, the question is not whether there are resources or not to support the provision of adequate, qualitative and functional public health care. Recently, Nigeria foreign reserve hits all time high $20 billion and the excess crude oil revenue is not less than $6 billion. The health sector is under-funded as a fall out of the commitment of the government to IMF/World Bank inspired neo-liberal policy of cut in social and public spending. The policy is to ensure that there is adequate portion of the country's wealth to take care of the economic interests of the imperialists and their agencies as well as to satisfy self-enrichment urge of the government's officials. For instance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the finance minister, the vice-president of World Bank on sabbatical leave in Nigeria, revealed a shocking fact of Nigeria spending just one-ninth of the allocation for debt service to the imperialist agencies on health care. (Punch February 14, 2004). Moreover, instead of committing the windfall to the functional provision of social service, as at February, the government has shared N318 billion of the money among its officials even without being appropriated. Yet, there has never been any noticeable development in the infrastructure to improve the lots of the working masses across the country.

Besides the meagre character of the budget allocation to health, there is progressive decline in the allocation year in year out. Last year, 6.5 % was allocated to the health sector while in the 2005 appropriation bill, yet to be passed, 5.5% is proposed. This is in spite of the fact that the 6.5% resulted in N8 billion shortfall that was at the centre of dispute between health workers and the government. Worse still, according to the government, N5.5 billion out of the N8 billion to offset the last year short fall will be charged on this year allocation of 5.5%. This implies that the seeming solution the government has proffered for the current dispute with doctors and other health workers will contribute to the worsening of the crisis in the sector.

The refusal of the government to adequately fund health sector from the enormous collectively owned wealth of the country is an indication that for a pro-capitalist/pro-imperialist government like that of Obasanjo, the interest of the poor working people ranks among the least of its priorities. As the panacea to the unending circle of crisis in the sector, the health workers, as they are fighting for improvement in their lots and working conditions, have to join the overall struggle of the working people to dislodge the current capitalist government and put in place a workers and poor farmers' government with rounded socialist programmes.

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It has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that NEPA's endemic problem, like every other sector cannot be resolved by this regime and any Nigerian who thinks otherwise, given the pro-rich, anti-poor and the neo-colonial policy of the Obasanjo led-government should be expecting milk from a he-goat.

In 1999, the commander-in-chief himself promised "uninterrupted power supply" with the then minister of power and steel, Chief Bola Ige who tried to become a super magician by giving Nigerians six months by which NEPA would have been revived. Late Chief Ige was shuffled out of the Power And Steel Ministry and coming on board was the present Governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Agagu, under whose stewardship N3 billion from Power and Steel Ministry meant for NEPA got missing and he could not explain its whereabouts.

Since the inception of this present government, over N400 billion has been voted into the Ministry of Power and Steel. Also, $18 million (N2.4 billion) World Bank loan to NEPA was secured late last year, yet nothing positive has been noticed.

Just recently, precisely on Thursday, February 18, 2005, most part of the country was thrown into darkness over what was tagged "NEPA system collapse". We must not forget that Obasanjo led government has a history of moving the goal post from one place to another. Quoting from The Punch Newspaper article of Tuesday March 8, 2005 credited to Azubuike, on the government promises to revamp NEPA: "NEPA promises regular supply by 2001 - The Punch August 28, 2000". "We are on top of the situation, by the middle of the year, power supply will begin to improve, and by the end of the year, we will meet the target (4,000 megawatts) set for us - Senator Liyel Imoke, former NEPA Technical Board Chairman, March 30, 2001". "We have no doubt that the funds requested will provide this nation with the lasting solution to our persistent power supply problems - Dr. Olusegun Agagu, former Minister of Power and Steel, August 20, 2002. (An estimated N200 billion was later released to NEPA that same year)". Therefore, the fantastic promise of the Obasanjo government over revitalization of NEPA, that power generation will be increased from less than 3000mw to 5500mw by the end of 2004 is a ruse. Recently, we have been told by the Minister of Power and Steel, Liyel Imoke that the 5500mw has fallen down to 3000mw which was attributed to system collapse due to instability to shortfall of rainfall.

Year-in, year-out, NEPA services have become epileptic. This has necessitated protests and demonstrations in different communities to NEPA offices. One of such peaceful protests and demonstrations was carried out by members of "Nosamu, Orodu and Goriola community" of Ajeromi-Ifelodun local government in Lagos State. One of the problems that sparked off the December 17 community mass protest was the 300KVA moribund transformer which can no longer serve the three streets (Nosamu, Orodu and Goriola) adequately for one month without developing major fault, which will take NEPA officials another 3 weeks or more to repair.

Outrageous estimated bills were brought to residents and also NEPA brought bills for the 4 months - July to November 2004 periods when there was no electricity at all due to the complete breakdown of the moribund transformers. Parts of the communities' demands have been: one, NEPA should withdraw the 4 months bill; two, NEPA should install a 1000KVA functional transformers and three, adequate funding of NEPA and no to privatisation of NEPA.

In the series of meetings, DSM members in the communities who intervened and gave leadership to the struggle had explained that the struggle should go further than winning immediate concessions. Though, it is always better to compel the enemy to retreat than to hide oneself without a fight, the working class and the masses should link every particular struggle to the general with the view not to only make the enemies to retreat but to struggle to take the mantle of leadership politically.

We have heard bourgeois commentators and bureaucratic argument for privatisation as the only way out. If one would ask, what happened to Enron energy giant, Societe Generale Bank, and Pamalat, just to mention a few? Are these big corporations not private companies? Well, over 200 privately owned and run companies have collapsed in the last one decade in this country.

What we have in a capitalist run economy like Nigeria is that political leadership and power is usurped either through the barrel of gun or massively rigged elections. Bureaucrats and those in government houses wreck havoc on this publicly owned corporations by massive embezzlement of public fund and sabotage.

The missing thing for any publicly owned corporation including NEPA is workers democratic management and control. Ultimately, the only remedy is for the commanding height of the economy to be nationalized with the democratic control and management by the workers. Anything short of this is capitalist anarchy.

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From the international theme, another world is possible, social movements and civil society organizations in Africa, its regions and countries have adopted same slogan. They say: another Africa is possible; another West Africa is possible. Or another Nigeria is possible, another Zimbabwe is possible etc.

Of course, a quick revisit of the environment in which the forums took place reinforces the argument that another world is not only desirable but indeed should be made possible.

Guinea, which hosted the West African social forum, is suffering under the yoke of a military turned civilian dictatorship. Despite, its rich mineral resources such as bauxite, the coastal nation and her citizens are among the poorest in the world. The president who suffers decapitating diabetes has refused to either step down or call elections. Soon after the forum, he claimed that a coup had been planned against him and effectively used that to clamp down on the opposition including the press and trade unions.

Zambia, which soon after hosted the African social forum does not fare better. It is said that the country's water resources could take care of the needs of the entire southern Africa, which means that it could effectively be waterpower. But today most of her citizens lack potable water. The country is one of the worst hit by the HIV/AIDS scourge and majority of her citizens live in abject poverty.

Guinea and Zambia may represent the poorest African Nations but there isn't much to show in the so-called bigger and sometimes richer countries such as Nigeria and South Africa where the key-defining feature of existence is poverty amidst riches. For the likes of Sudan, the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea etc the only story that can be easily told is that of wars, genocide, famine, diseases and mass hunger.

Africa, therefore, in general presents the worst characteristics of modern day capitalist exploitation the result of which is the following (as compiled by Jubilee South Africa):

� 340 million people or half the population live on less than US1$ per day

� Mortality rate of children under 5 years of age is 140 per 1000

� Life expectancy at birth is only 54 years

� Only 58% of the population has access to safe water

� Illiteracy rate for people over 15 is 41%

� Only 18 mail telephone lines per 1000 people compared with 146 in the world as a whole and 567 in the high-income countries

On top of all the above is what has been labelled the big debt burden. It is said that "Africa carries a debt burden of over $300 billion but has only 5% of the world's income and spends over $15 billion annually on debt repayment" and even the World Bank acknowledges that for every US1$ African countries receive in grant 13$ is paid as interest on debt.

The debt issue was expectedly a big agenda at both forums. There was a majority vote for total debt cancellation as many argued that it is indeed the capitalist countries of Europe and America that should pay reparations for colonial exploitation and plunder and further neo-colonial exploitation through the Breton Wood institutions of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The Nigerian government says for example that to one of its creditors, it has paid 43 billion Naira as interest on a debt of 13 billion Naira and still owes about 23 billion Naira.

Anti-debt campaigner, Senegalese Dembe Mouusa summarized the views of his constituency: "We want to get rid of IMF and World Bank influence in Africa. We know that most of the debt crisis and its implications came from structural adjustment policies. Even their lending is just promises and we know that that those promises they fulfil them if you destroy your country trade liberalization, commercialization and privatization so we don't even want to have their money. If we have our way we would say thank you IMF, thank you World Bank, take your money and go back to Washington DC"

Socialists and Marxists support total cancellation of the usurious and mostly fictitious debts holding down development in the countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, etc. But the way it is posed at the social forums as the magical solution to Africa's problems is misleading. For in addition to the debt burden other by-products of the exploitative capitalist system such as massive corruption, imperialist domination of the commanding heights of the economy, the millionaires monopoly of land, farms and other natural resources, payment of poverty wages etc, are equally responsible for Africa's under-development. Not to mention years of military and civilian dictatorships as well as wars and genocide with the big under-current of ethnic and nationality agitation.

Moreover, it cannot be expected that the same beneficiaries of the exploitation of the working masses, who constitute the African Union and regional bodies like ECOWAS would be the champions of the debt cancellation campaign. It is thus futile putting such demands at the doorsteps of AU, NEPAD, and SADCC etc.

Then we need to ask: assuming that the debt is cancelled today, what happens next? What alternative would be put in place to avoid a return to the debt regime?

The point that socialists stress is that first and foremost it must be understood that Africa's myriad of problems are fundamentally caused by the system of the millionaires, landlords that has manifested through the years as direct colonization, indirect rule, dictatorships, neo-liberalism and what have you. Second, that the alternative to this system is a socialist plan of production and society with the commanding heights of the economy not only nationalized and socialized, but also placed under the democratic control and management of the working class, farmers and peasants in order to check likely abuses.

There is no doubt that social forum has attracted and captured the imagination of a number of working class elements and especially the youths. But the endless meetings and talk shops would remain mere yearly rituals if the task of the need to build an alternative African working class and youth political programmes, perspectives and platform is not posed and addressed. In doing this, it is equally important to forge alliances and working class solidarity with the working class and youth of other continents who despite different circumstances face similar capitalist and imperialist yoke.

Good enough, Africa and her countries are not new to mass social and revolutionary movements. Many examples buttress this point from the anti-slavery revolt to the independence struggles. From the Algerian to the South African revolutions and the working class movements in Ghana, Nigeria etc. The chief task of making another Africa possible lies in re-arming the working class and youth movement with the correct perspectives and strategies based on the need to change the capitalist system.

Another Africa would be possible only when another revolution led and controlled by the working class and youth, the farmers, peasants and women is made to happen in each and every African country.

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The cassava bread policy of Obasanjo regime, according to its designers, is to compel, by legislation, the inclusion of cassava flour in bread making and other confectionaries in Nigeria, in the ratio of ninety percent (90%) wheat flour and ten percent (10%) cassava flour as against the subsisting 100% whole wheat bread presently consumed.

By November 2004, government mandated the implementation of this policy to commence January, 2005. The Special Assistant to the President on Food Security, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Adetunji, placed an advert in major newspapers including The Guardian, Saturday January 1st, 2005, titled "BEHOLD NIGERIAN BREAD", wherein she stressed the need to "follow-up on the implementation of the new policy measure of the Federal Government on 10% inclusion of cassava flour in bread and other confectioneries to meet the challenge of demand by the Flour Millers".

A programme schedule was announced for sensitization and training workshop on production and packaging of high quality cassava flour in the twenty seven cassava producing states in Nigeria. By this, the government and its agencies would like to be taken serious on this policy. But apprehension and cynicism that greeted this policy by major stakeholders, farmers, processors, millers and master bakers were confounding. Most perceive the programme as propaganda or mere lip service to food security in Nigeria.

Babangida's regime had taken them through a similar fantasy before in the hey days of Directorate of Food Road and Rura Infrasstructure (DFRRI) when wheat was supposed to be banned in order to allow millers and bakers to look inward and substitute cassava for maize. The programme crashed just like the disgraced dictator government crashed out of office.

Will there be any difference this time around and can Nigeria agriculture, in its present mode, meets the expected demand for cassava and other necessary inputs in place for any impact of this policy to be felt by the people including the consumers? The objective realities in agriculture and its allied enterprises in Nigeria do not suggest that any meaningful achievement can be made. The Nigeria bread of composite wheat and cassava flours may, at best, continue to be a mere conjecture of Obasanjo and his team.

Cassava is the fourth staple food in the world and Nigeria is the largest producer of the crop. Cassava products like Garri, Lafun (dried flour) are consumed by over 70% of the Nigerian population making the average demand for cassava estimated at about 12,900 metric tones per annum. Notwithstanding the obvious potential of cassava as a treasure crop that can turn around the economy of the nation, its cultivation, processing and marketing have suffered the same fate of neglect like other aspects of agriculture partly due to adverse effect brought by the commercial production of petroleum, corruption and inconsistency of government agricultural programmes and policies. So, any attempt to neglect general agriculture and isolate one or two crops for supposed development is an exercise in futility. Agricultural problems need holistic approach. That Nigerians still starve with the abundant agricultural resources shows that the anti-poor Obasanjo regime cannot be trusted in its cassava bread project.

Nigeria has about 98.8 million hectares of land with 72% of its potentially cultivable, making agriculture the largest employer of labour with over 60% total labour force in agriculture. Over three decades ago, before "oil boom", agriculture accounted for over 50% of the country's Gross Domestic Product and its contribution to the foreign exchange earning was over 70% before it dropped down to an all time low of 4%.

The parlous state of agriculture is a culmination of anti-poor, neo-liberal economic policies of successive capitalist regimes in Nigeria, which peaked with the total embrace of IMF/World Bank Structural Adjustment Programme by governments, starting with Babangida which Obasanjo has further carried to its "logical conclusion" of total deregulation of the down stream sector of oil and removal of subsidy on agricultural products, leaving prices to be determined by the blind market forces of capitalism called open market economy.

To underline how unserious the government is in developing cassava cultivation to meet both local and foreign consumption, a foremost cassava farmer, Pastor Segun Adewunmi who cultivates 240 hectares (about 3,600 plots of land or 2.4km) of cassava has this to say: "Our cassava can not meet the world market for now because the cost of production is more than three times the cost of production elsewhere. Even, Ghana is faring better�.The cost of producing a ton of cassava here in Nigeria is about N5,000, whereas in countries such as South Africa, it is less than N1,500.." On availability of agriculture, loan to farmers, he also has this to say: "I have buildings in choke areas that could stand as collateral. I equally have farm implements like bulldozers, ploughers, tractors and everything it takes to be a mechanized farmer. But regrettably, I have not in any way been able to obtain any fund or loan from the Nigeria Agricultural Co-operative Bank (NACB) for the past four years�. You only hear in the media how much has been budgeted for agriculture, but sadly enough, we do not know where the money goes to". (The Guardian July 31, 2004). If an educated mechanized farmer can face this harrowing experience, what will be the fate of over 75% Nigerian subsistent farmers who are illiterate and poor?

Only a government of the working people consciously striving to better the lot of everybody in society can muster the necessary massive technological and financial resources needed to positively turn agriculture and other key sectors of the economy around on a permanent basis. But the individualistic and capitalist, neo-liberal policies which form the bedrock of this government�s economic policy can never make this attainable.

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Below are extracts from the said rejoinder:

"Most national dailies of February 14 2005 carried a statement issued by the chief Press Secretary to the governor of Lagos State, Mr. Segun Ayobolu, wherein many disparaging and totally unjustified abuses and blackmail were rained on the Lagos State NCP's position on the funding and administration of local councils in Lagos State. Unfortunately however, virtually all the newspapers that used the above cited statement did not carry a single sentence from the text of our own original press conference on the subject matter held on Wednesday, February 9 2005.

Without scruple and without citing a single sentence from our press conference, Mr. Ayobolu nonetheless variously described our positions on the issues at stake as having being motivated by "narrow, selfish, partisan greed and opportunism". In addition, Mr. Ayobolu accused the Lagos State NCP of having entered into "an unholy conspiracy to kill the people's oriented 57 local councils in the marriage of strange bed fellows" with the PDP in Lagos State. In another part, Mr. Ayobolu's statement reads: "every mass oriented political party must align its interest with the aspirations of the common man on the street. The local governments of Lagos State are the product of the aspiration of the citizens of Lagos State to bring government closer to them"!

When critically examined, many of the above quoted accusations and positions coming from the AD's government against the National Conscience Party are, to say the least, ludicrous and laughable. Ordinarily, we would simply have ignored these ridiculous charges against NCP as the rantings of a politically doomed ex-pro masses party. However, there are too many misleading impressions and assertions contained in Mr. Ayobolu's statement which if not taken up now will only help to deepen the current material and political deprivations being suffered by overwhelming working masses and youths of Lagos State, as a result of the elitist and kleptomaniac administration being presided over by Governor Bola Tinubu since May 1999.

But before we make a couple of comments on the above quotations, we think it will be more useful at this stage to reproduce the relevant parts of the press conference which Mr. Ayobolu's statement was reacting to.

We quote:

The concept behind the creation of local councils is hinged on the premises that positive government services can be brought nearer to the people at the grassroot levels. Unfortunately however, the experience of most Nigerians, particularly those in Lagos state, over the activities of local councils has been a total disappointment. Rather than provide succour to the people, the so-called newly created local councils have only constituted themselves into menace on the living standard and democratic rights of Lagosians through many exploitative levies, fines and obnoxious Bye-laws and Regulations. Far from providing any tangible positive service to the community, these councils individually and collectively have been behaving more like locusts with relentless determination to make life difficult for ordinary citizens." End of Quote.

A FEW COMMENTS ON MR. AYOBOLU'S STATEMENT

1. Mr. Ayobolu gave the false impression that Lagos State NCP's position canvassed at the press conference in issue and which position was quoted above was a new position. On the contrary however, the position expressed above with respect to the status of the so-called 57 newly created councils in Lagos State has always been the position of the Lagos State NCP abinitio. Although, space cannot permit us here to reproduce several documents where similar positions had been maintained in the past. Nonetheless, we hereby reproduce the relevant part of the text of a press conference which Lagos State NCP addressed on March 24, 2004, that is about 3 days before the March 27 farcical local government election held in Lagos State by the AD's government marionette called LASIEC on March 27, 2004.

We quote:

Faced with this situation, Governor Bola Tinubu of Lagos state, held bent on going ahead to conduct election into these illegal entities has stated that whatever amount is received for the running of the 20 constitutionally recognised local governments in Lagos state will be shared amongst its own 57 illegal entities being called councils. This, without mincing word, is a recipe for the financial short-changing of the ordinary masses because at the end of the day, once the new chairmen, deputies, assistants and assistants to assistants satisfy their own ever greedy appetite from whatever allocation is given, there will always be little or nothing left for genuine development in the living conditions of the masses. Even right now, these so-called local governments have only succeeded in proving their mettle through the intensification of the suffering of the poorest layers of the society via ruthless and repressive collection of all sorts of bogus levies and implementation of bye-laws." End of Quote.

2. The claim the "the local governments of Lagos State are the product of the aspiration of the citizenry of the Lagos State" is an absolutely false one. What the average Lagosian needs and which are lacking are adequate foods, descent accommodation, good and well maintained roads, functional and affordable education and health care, stable and affordable water, electricity, telecommunication and communication services etc. Only self-serving politicians like those that dominate the AD contrived the creation of more local government as a way of serving the materials needs and egos of their leaders and members. It is an open truth that AD's party and government in Lagos State has been able to keep appearance of unity on the basis of "jobs for the boys" newly created local councils which are nothing but conduit pipes meant to siphon public money that could have been used to better the lot of the masses into the pockets of individual politicians and their mentors. The so-called new local governments' right from inception were warned not to employ additional workers because in truth these councils were not design to better the lot of the masses.

3. The accusation that the Lagos State NCP has become a "willing tool of the despotic, dictatorial and unpopular charlatans PDP in Lagos State" is nothing but a complete blackmail. This allegation is nothing but a cynical, bold face sham, where a thief turns round to accuse the owner of stealing! Every average politically conscious element knows today that there is no any tangible difference between PDP and AD vis-�-vis their corrupt, anti-people policies and conducts. It should be stressed that this fact has been responsible for the smooth and effortless ease with which AD's leaders and members have been decamping in droves to the PDP. After all, birds of the same character flock together! Today, every averagely perspective analyst could already see that the self-serving politicking and vaunting ambitions of individual politicians like Governor Tinubu will willy-nilly drive the remnant of the AD and Governor Tinubu himself into PDP or any other PDP like anti-people's party sooner than may be imagined. In the wake of the massively rigged and manipulated farce called the 2003 general election, at a time when many erstwhile colleagues of Governor Bola Tinubu in the AD were wailing that the PDP controlled INEC had rigged them out of power and as a result calling for the cancellation of the elections, Governor Bola Tinubu, true to his real political character, declared: "the most urgent need of ours is to rally round the president�. We must accelerate the pace of privatisation. We must intensify the liberalisation and open up of the country�. Let this task unites us irrespective of the party affiliation or political disposition" (Tribune, May 27, 2003, Page 2). Occasionally behind the scene, officials of the Lagos State government can be heard complaining about how the prevailing Nigeria's political configurations has been unfair to Lagos State with its huge population and peculiar socio-economic features.

But when President Obasanjo led PDP government announced the setting up of a National Political Reform Conference on the basis of this unjust political configurations, not a murmur of objection was raised against this arrangement so as not to be branded as radical opponents of the status quo and thereby put their future political ambitions in jeopardy! Time shall soon fully show who the real allies, collaborators of "the despotic dictatorial unpopular charlatans PDP" are!

4. Mr. Ayobolu in the statement in issue gives the impression of someone that believes, or that at least, is familiar with the Bible. Hence his reference to the Biblical victory of the generally believed weak David over mighty Goliath. We shall not here try to x-ray who the real Davids are and who are the real Goliaths in the current conflicts. Time, we believe, will very soon sort this out. However, each time Mr. Ayobolu sets out to do his hatchet job, we advise him to always bear in mind this Biblical words: "Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness, and put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter". (Isaiah chapter 5 verse 20).

The struggle continues.

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The Tsunami disaster of December 26, 2004 where over 226,000 were dead, 500,000 injured, two million people desperate for food and five million made homeless is another proof of the fact that capitalism a blind profit system is incapable of protecting the lives of ten of thousands in the Indian Ocean countries. Capitalism is a profit system that destroys the lives of million on daily basis.

Yes, it could be argued that the Sumatra earthquake and the subsequent tsunamis were a natural disaster and therefore has nothing to do with capitalism. But if the Tsunami had occurred in countries around pacific, led by US and Japan, there could have been minimal death and destruction. Reasons: They have a sophisticated earthquake and Tsunami warning system that could give an advance warning of approaching Tsunamis. Again, in the advanced capitalist countries, especially, on the west coast of the US and Japan, technology is used to ensure that most buildings could withstand major quakes.

The need to save money to purchasing, installing and maintaining Tsunami early warning system which is a peanut compared with the needless loss of thousands of lives, property worth billions of dollars and of course, cost of rescue has been the reason by the capitalist governments for not installing it. Meanwhile, the cost of installing it is between $20 - $30 million. Natural disasters like earthquakes are unstoppable but predicting them is within the human capacity, which gives humanity a limited period of time to move human beings and movable property away from the about to be affected zone. But because of greed for profit, capitalist governments internationally have been unable to have global co-operation on the warning system which has the capacity of at least four hours advance warning!

According to January 3 Financial Times for instance, Seismologists at Thailand's meteorological office, who knew of the powerful earthquake within minutes withheld issuing an alert because they feared "damaging the tourist industry". To protect profit, over 800 tourists on the Idyllic beach of Khaolak, Thailand perished! Half an hour warning was enough to minimize casualties in all the affected 13 Asian and African countries.

The generous response and donations of ordinary people, especially from the advanced capitalist countries to the Tsunami victims is very instructive. It is a graphic example of human solidarity and internationalism. In Britain for instance, individual donations per hour is estimated to be one million pound. This solidarity is one of the key factors that forced Bush to increase US aid to Tsunami victims from the initial $35 million to $350 million. Meanwhile, same Bush spends $4.5 billion monthly to prosecute war and killings of Iraqi people.

In order to strengthen its strategic position in the India Ocean and regain its lost prestige over Iraq occupation, US imperialism is hypocritically playing a leading role in the current crisis. It is frantically trying to support governments whose stability is threatened as a result of the disaster. US imperialism will assist these governments and subsequently, get a pay back in terms of bases and facilities for its military preserve.

Again, G8 committee of richest countries of the world- has agreed to a one-year debt moratorium for Indonesia and other affected Tsunami countries. But suspension of the debt repayment is not enough. All the debts acclaimed to have been owed by the poor countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa must be cancelled. The so-called debts are scams and scandalous. For example, Nigeria is said to borrow $5 billion but has paid back $16 billion but still owes $16 billion on same debt!

Apart from making the debt permanent, in most cases, the loans are given to leaders who misappropriate or embezzle them while the poor masses are made to bear the permanent brunt of repayment and lay the basis for their governments for lack of social amenities like good roads, qualitative education, potable water, etc .

The disaster should be an eye opener to the oppressed people of the world that capitalism is much concerned with its short-term profit and cannot plan for the future. This tsunami has further exposed the capitalist governments of the Africa, Asia and Latin Americans that they are incapable to protect local people and ensure basic necessities of life for the majority of world population living in the continents.

We salute the sense of international solidarity, especially of the young people for donation of emergency aid to the victims. However, this relief aid should be coordinated and directed by the elected council of workers without any discrimination between different ethnic, religious caste, etc to guard against corruption and ensure that rebuilding meets the aspiration of the masses. More importantly, there is need to struggle to enthrone an alternative system to capitalism, Socialism - where the means of production are democratically controlled and managed by the elected workers representative where needs of the people take priority over profit.

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On Saturday, February 5, 2005, the Africa's longest serving head of state and dictator, Gnassingbe Eyadema died. He ruled Togo since 1967, came to power via a military coup. Immediately he came to power, he dissolved all political parties and governed relatively for more than two decades unchallenged. He, however, succumbed to popular demand of Togolese people by legalising political parties again in 1991, though, this did not bring a true democracy to the Togolese, as he manipulated elections results to win three times.

Immediately after his death, Togo's military high command in connivance with the parliament declared Eyadema's son, 39-year old Faure Gnassingbe the new president. He was a junior minister in his father cabinet. The military said that the declaration of Faure as the new president was to prevent a leadership vacuum, since the speaker of parliament, Fanbara Ouattara Natchaba, who was supposed to take over as a result of president's death was out of the country.

The installation of Eyadema's son as the new president was a flagrant violation of the Togo's constitution. According to provisions of the constitution, the speaker of the parliament, Fanbara Ouattara Natchaba, should have succeeded the president with the obligation to call elections within 60 days. To achieve the installation of Faure as the new president, he has to be made Member of Parliament and chosen to replace Natchaba as speaker and subsequently sworn in as the new president. The parliament also went further to change the constitution so that there would be no legal requirement to hold elections in Togo within 60 days of leader's death. This constitutional amendment allowed Faure to complete his father's term.

Following the installation of Faure as the new president of Togo, various international bodies and countries such as African Union (AU), ECOWAS United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU), France and US condemned the process of picking Faure and demanded respect for the country's constitution. Specifically, African Union (AU) whose chairman is the Nigeria's president Olusegun Obasanjo described the coming to power of Faure as a coup and therefore, unacceptable.

More importantly is the demonstrations and street protests embarked upon by the Togolese against the unconstitutional seizure of power by Faure. This eventually forced Faure to quit power but instead of installing the illegally deposed speaker, Fanbara Ouattara Natchaba, as the president, the pro-Faure parliament has made an associate of Faure, Abass Boufon, the interim president pending the new elections in April. Faure has however made it known that he would be contesting as presidential candidate in the forthcoming elections.

There is no doubt that the resignation of Faure as the president is a smokescreen to deceive the Togolese people. Unless the working masses, students, youth and other oppressed layers in Togo take practical steps to participate in the forthcoming elections with a view to take over power, Faure will definitely return to power through manipulations of election results.

The self-serving African leaders like Obasanjo will turn blind eye to such expected monumental electoral fraud. This will expose the hypocritical democratic pretension of these leaders who swaggerly arrogate to themselves the credit of Faure�s exit albeit temporarily. This is not accidental as those elements also rigged themselves into power.

The most fundamental step to be taken by the working people of Togo is to form a political party with a socialist agenda. Without this, even if the political party of the working people accidentally takes over power on the basis of the present unjust and exploitative capitalist system in Togo, there is no way such a party could make a fundamental difference from past regimes in Togo. This is because the problems (social, economic and political) confronting the Togolese working people, like people of most other neo-colonial countries, are systemic problems that go beyond the personality or political party in the power.

One of the cardinal programmes that must be carried out by a working people's party with socialist agenda is the nationalisation of the commanding height of economy. In other words, the commanding heights of economy must be publicly owned and democratically controlled by the Togolese working people. This is the only way a working people's party can meet the yearnings and aspirations of the poor people of Togo.

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An 'election' was conducted on January 30, 2005 in Iraq to elect a "Transitional National Assembly" that will write a new constitution (which will be voted on in a referendum in the autumn) for Iraqis by 15th August, 2005.

This election was one of the strangest in modern history. For fear of being attacked, candidates' names and faces were not known; four out of eighteen electoral provinces (which account for half of the population) were declared as dangerous/unstable for voting to take place; movement within and between towns was restricted while the international electoral monitoring groups/international observers boycotted the election. In fact, the election was more like a preparation for a war with imperialist troops on every street corner!

Contrary to Bush and Blair view that the Iraqi election is a "victory for democracy", situation on ground shows that the election and its outcome will only exacerbate divisions between various ethnic and religious groups, offer a civil war and increase poverty level of the Iraqi people. After the election for instance, insurgency and relentless wave of violence has continued with scores of lives daily lost. In fact, the Iraqi interim government had to close the country's border between 17 and 22 of February as a measure to temporarily manage the problem. Again, Prime Minister Allawi has extended the state of emergency declared about four months ago for another 30days until the end of March. Out of 1,502 US occupational forces casualties, 1,140 deaths were through hostile actions by Iraqis.

Out of the acclaimed 58% turn out, overwhelming majority of Sunni Moslems in central Iraq (who constitute about 20% of the population boycotted the election while there was a high turn outs in Anbar province (cities of Falluja and Ramadi) and Ninevah which includes Mosul respectively.

Historically, the Shias who constitute up to 60% of the population had been an oppressed majority under the Sunni elite dominated political force even under Saddam dictatorship. The Shias therefore participated overwhelmingly in the election as a way to have their turn to dominate with the hope that the US imperialism will leave immediately after the election. Majority of Sunnis viewed the election as a fig leaf for imperialist occupation hence, the boycott while the Kurds massively partook in the election with the objective of being represented in the National Assembly to enshrine their de-facto autonomy/all-out independence in the constitution.

An attempt by the Kurds to include control of Kirkuk, a city near important northern oil fields, in Kurdish autonomous state would provoke resistance by Sunni Arabs in the province and beyond. This would also encourage the Shias in the south to consolidate their control over the southern oil filed. All this poses the question of a civil war between the Shias and the Sunnis which could create instability throughout the Middle East and give terrorists a new, ungoverned region that could be used as a base of operations.

Regardless of the reason for participating or not in the January 30 election, the Iraqis have one thing in common a hatred of the occupying forces and their immediate pull-out.

Again, controversy will ensue in the next few months over an attempt by the Shias to introduce Sharia law in the constitution as the Kurds are poised to oppose it. And again, a constitution emanating from a "National Assembly" without Sunnis impute and cooperation cannot be said to be all embarrassing. Already, since after the election, there have been attacks specifically targeted at Shia civilians, a resultant effect of resentment and alienation of Sunnis. Meanwhile, the Sunnis are minority in Iraq; they are majority in the entire Arab world.

Since after the election, socio-economic situation has not changed for better. There have been a lack of electricity and fuel for transport, lack of clean water, decent food and jobs, etc. It is clear that continuous suffering and frustration will increase the anger and bitterness of the Iraqis towards US imperialism and its occupying forces. It should be noted that the US and British imperialism's singular reason for waging brutal war and occupation of Iraq that have claimed the lives of over 100,000 Iraqis and over 1,502 US troops - possession of Weapon of Mass Destruction - is unfounded. Two years after occupation, WMD is yet to be found in Iraq!

In the absence of strong united workers organisations that can tailor this anger towards a united campaign of national liberalisation which seeks to improve the conditions of the mass working class people, regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliations, the resistance could manifest into chaos and most likely, a civil war.

Elections under imperialist occupation can therefore not solve any of the problems of Iraqi working people. What is required first and foremost is a mass movement of the working class people and oppressed masses across all ethnic divisions that can build a formidable force capable of ending the occupation of Iraq. Having attained this, it would be possible to call for the convening of a constituent assembly of democratically elected delegates to prepare a workers' and poor farmers' government leading to a socialist confederation of Iraq with national and minority rights. Only the establishment of a democratic socialist confederation in Iraq and a democratic socialist federation of the whole region will offer a solution to the endless carnage which imperialism means for all the people of the region.

Through unity in struggle, the occupying forces can be forced out and a movement for a socialist Iraq and socialist federation of Middle East can begin.

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More than four months after the National Conscience Party, Agege Chapter has written a letter to the Lagos State Commissioner of Works and Infrastructure, calling government's attention to the life-threatening dilapidated bridge over the Mulero canal along Ipaja Road Agege and the dire need to reconstruct it urgently, nothing is yet to happen.

In a letter dated October 21 2004, the party painted the picture of how erosion has eaten down the ground and how the bridge vibrates under vehicular pressure.

Having been imposed to administer an illegal local government like others in Lagos state without mandate from the people, it is no surprise that the so-called chairman of "Orile-Agege Local Government" who sees the bridge and the serious danger it poses could not call on his benefactors at Alausa to see to the immediate reconstruction of the bridge as demanded by the NCP and the daily users.

Meanwhile, the drums and ropes used to guide the bridge as warning signal to motorists and children are now portending dangers as children lean on the drum to see how deep the canal is.

We of the NCP hereby reiterate our call on the government to wake up to its constitutional and social responsibilities and not wait for the bridge to start claiming lives before appreciating the need for its reconstruction.

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The National Conscience Party, Agege Branch has joined the residents of Kareem Babatunde/Adebayo Lane Papa-Ashafa Agege in making a clarion call to the Alimosho District of National Electrical Power Authority to replace the worn out NEPA wires and a weak electric pole that is about falling down in the area. Those NEPA properties pose serious danger to the safety of lives and properties in the street.

The demand contained in a letter dated February 9, 2005 also includes the urgent need of a new transformer in the area. Besides the NCP intervention, the Landlords' Association of the street has written several letters to District to no avail. The party has resolved not to relent until the NEPA is forced to accede to the demand. It has seriously considered the option of mobilizing the residents for political action in form of peaceful demonstrations to the appropriate quarters.

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It appears the authorities of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife attach more priority to making scapegoats out of some student activists over addressing the issues that led the students into the November 3, 2004 protest and the subsequent 3-month closure of the university. Instead of finding lasting solution to the crisis, they have opted to aggravate it with the recent summary expulsion of the current Public Relation Officer, PRO, of the students' union and the invitation of some other student activists to an obvious vindictive disciplinary panel.

Those invited to the panel, including four members of DSM viz. Dayo Fadugba, Lawson Oviasoge, Olumide Ogunlabi and Muyiwa Aderibigbe, are facing the threat of loss of studentship while Taiwo Hassan, another activist, already serving two-session suspension for his leading roles in the struggle against imposition of illegal charges at the beginning of the session, is on the verge of being handed an outright expulsion.

This planned victimization is part of draconian and repressive measures the management has put up since the re-opening of the university on February 3 as the response to the November 3 student protests. Students resumed after the closure to meet an atmosphere of repression and expression of crude anger by the management.

DSM members and the other activists were alleged to be among the masterminds and perpetrators of the assault on the university officials and destruction of university property in the course of the protest of November 3.

Muyiwa Aderibigbe was specifically singled out by two University agents, Bode and Odofin Rotimi, as the actual assaulter of the vice-chancellor. This is a thumped up charge against an innocent union activist, as all the available facts do not support the allegation. For instance, the quislings originally nicknamed the assaulter of the vice-chancellor as "Old Soldier" but whom they later identified as Muyiwa. However, Muyiwa, who has spent more than 3 years in the university as a student is at no time known as "old soldier". He goes around with the nickname "Liptino". He had contested and won two elections on the campus, first as Director of Sport of his faculty students' association and later as a member of students' union parliament. He is still in the parliament representing his faculty. In both elections, he used the name "Liptino" which was printed on his campaign materials and even the ballot paper. Despite the mountain of facts in favour of Muyiwa, the management, having been beclouded by emotion at great expense of reason, may not leave him off the hook. Muyiwa is an unfortunate victim of the desperation of the agents to invent just somebody as the perpetrator of the physical assault badly wanted by the management in order to justify their pay and continue enjoying the patronage of the later.

Of course, on the basis of the ideas of Marxism, which we profess and identified with on the campus and beyond, we of DSM could not have masterminded and supported the counter-productive approach of assault on individual university officers and destruction of properties. Moreover, in all our publications and comments on the event of November 3, we have condemned the assault and dissociated ourselves from it and unsparingly helped draw the correct lesson for students and authorities alike.

But we are not however surprised that some of our comrades have been penciled down for victimization. This is because of our long-standing and uncompromising defence of the rights and interests of students on the campus. It will be recalled that for almost six years, until 2001, Anthony Fasayo and 9 other comrades were politically expelled from the same university. Authorities were forced to re-call them due to sustained local, national and international campaigns and agitations. Also, a comrade Dayo Fadugba, the immediate past Public Relation Officer of the students' union only at present enjoys temporary studentship on the basis of a court injunction. This comrade, who is also among those facing the current panel, was suspended in 2003 along with three others: Akinkunmi Olawoyin, Olugbemiga Adewale and Abass Hassan, for leading students' struggle against some obnoxious charges imposed by the authorities.

On the basis of our leading roles against the characteristic anti-student, anti-worker policies of the management, the penchant of the authorities for witch-hunting and the antecedent of the university, there is high possibility for the DSM members and other activists to be declared "guilty as charged" irrespective of their robust defence over the November 3 incident.

Combined with political campaign to resist the planned victimization, the DSM members and the other affected activists have resolved to opt for legal representation and actions. Unfortunately, the Students' union leadership is at present dominated by moribund elements that cannot fight for improvement in the living and studying conditions of students, let alone lead struggle against the current wave of victimization. It is a matter of time, in line with the militant tradition of Great Ife students, these feeble characters will be pushed to the roadside if not permanently shown the way out of the union offices. Great Ife must rise up against the victimization and in defence of their rights and interests.

Instead of aggravating the crisis situation which the recent expulsion of the union PRO and the looming victimization of the union activists now facing a vindictive panel portend, the authorities should recall all the politically victimized student activists including those that only enjoy temporary studentship on the basis of court injunction and halt the culture of victimization.

The authorities must note that their prevailing draconian actions and their inability or refusal to find lasting solution to unresolved issues have the potential of engendering another round of crisis in the institution. Therefore, to prevent another evil day, the university must ensure the immediate payment of the two-month salaries of the academic staff and that of other staff unions withheld in the same circumstance. The payment of the lecturers' salaries will facilitate release of student examination results. The authorities should also immediately initiate a positive discussion with ASUU and other workers' union in this direction. They must commit themselves to comprehensive improvement in the studying and living conditions on the campus.

We call on students and workers to join us to demand and fight for the following:

� Unconditional reinstatement of Peter Olowokandi, Taiwo Hassan and all other politically victimized student activists and end to the culture of victimisation.

� The immediate payment of the two-month salaries of the academic staff and that of other staff unions withheld in the same circumstance.

� The Immediate release of the withheld semester exam results.

� Qualitative improvement in the living and studying conditions on the campus.

� Apology and heavy compensation to the family of the slain student, Rasheed Laketu, by the University authorities and the Nigerian Police

� Never again should policemen be invited into the campus in response to unarmed student and staff agitations, protest/demonstrations. No Police Post on campus!

� The university's security committee must be dissolved immediately and re-composed to include representatives of students and other segments of the university community.

� Democratic management of the resources and affairs of the institutions of higher learning with the inclusion of the elected representatives of students, teaching and non-teaching staffs in all decision making bodies from committees to the Governing Council.

� Adequate commitment of the collectively owned wealth of the society to the funding of public education.

� No to privatisation of student hostels

Lastly, we call on the labour, civil society groups, working people organisations and students bodies, nationally and internationally to protest the prevailing wave of victimization and unwholesome attack on students and workers' rights.

Letter of protest should be sent to

The vice-chancellor

Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife

E-mail: [email protected]

The registrar

Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife

E-mail: [email protected]

And then copy: [email protected].

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Steel and Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria (SEWUN) is presently engulfed in a deep political crisis, the outcome of which will determine which trend controls the soul of the union.

The battle line is drawn between the progressive radical forces of change and the opportunistic status quo that wants to perpetuate its influence in the union at the expense of the workers interest.

In a petition against the national leadership signed by forty-four leaders of the union representing branches in the Ikeja Area Council 1 of SEWUN led by Comrade Rufus Olusesan, a member of the DSM, the national leadership is accused of nose-diving the union into a state of inertia due to its ineptitude, unprincipled compromise with the employers and outright corruption.

Listed as part of atrocities are: arbitrary collection of check off dues in advance and borrowing money from company management, which has informed the national leadership inability to fight against job loss, casualisation and fight for implementation of minimum wage and the right of workers to unionise. Places of work like MIKANO, COOK 'N' LITE, ELDORADO, Tower Aluminium and WAHUM are examples where national leadership's rotten compromise has virtually exposed workers to further attacks by the management.

Illegal suspension of two national officers, AC Mbachu and A.N. Uwakolom and selective, contradictory directives from the national secretariat of the union to some opposing union officers holding dual union offices at the Ikeja Area Council 1 to relinquish one are also causing ripples in the union.

As a fight back, the national leadership of Aguele has commenced a systematic victimisation of all union officers considered as threats to its commercial interest, even in collaboration with company management.

The way forward is for a genuine leadership that stands for workers interest to work within the rank and file, discuss all issues at the branch and council levels to expose the anti-labour interest of the national leadership. A distinct alternative programme of actions should be worked out with a view to change this rotten leadership at all levels of the union.

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Between February 23-25, 2005, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) went on warning strike to protest non-implementation of the agreement reached in 2001 with the Federal government. Parts of the 2001 agreement reached included adequate funding of the universities, no victimisation of members for participating in the strike etc.

We in the DSM commend the university's teachers for embarking on the 3-day warning strike despite the government threat of �no-work no-pay� policy.

It should be noted that Obasanjo administration has a passionate hatred for the poor masses, allotting all-time meager budgetary allocation to education since its inception. A cursory look of budgetary allocation by ASUU response to Federal Ministry of Education in The Punch Newspapers of January 27, 2005 confirms this: 1999: 11.12%, 2000: 8.36%, 2001: 7.00%, 2002: 6.1%, 2003: 4.75%, 2004: 4.54%. The progressive decline of budgetary allocation to education since 1999 shows the intention of anti-poor, pro-rich, capitalist government of Obasanjo to make good, standard, qualitative and affordable education beyond the reach of the poor and as exclusive right of sons and daughters of the rich whose parents have looted and ruined the country. As a result of this under-funding, the education sector has witnessed a great decline in quality of service and collapse of existing infrastructure with no hope of improvement in sight.

The government's solution to its sheer irresponsibility to commit public resources to public education is privatisation of hostels and commercialisation of education where students and parents will have to cough out more money while those that cannot afford it will have no right to qualitative education or drop out. This is in line with the anti-people policies of deregulation, privatisation and commercialisation of the Obasanjo regime as dictated by IMF/World Bank to keep the poor masses in a continuous state of poverty and misery.

The nonsensical argument of government alone cannot adequately fund education is baseless. In the past five years, government earned over N13.8 trillion from sales of crude oil alone and over N160 billion has been earned as excess oil sales in the past one year. But these huge amounts were being used to fund ostentatious corruption and misplaced priorities. In 2002, 2003 and 2004, the government used 12.47% (excluding joint venture cash call), 41.52% and 30.19% respectively of the national budget to servicing fictitious debt. Within three month in 2002/2003, the government spent over N90 billions on distractions: hosting All Africa Games and Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting (CHOGM), another N85 billion on white elephant Abuja National Stadium while N30 billion went into COJA. Recently also, the sum of N318 billion was shared among governors and other tiers of government, to mention just a few. Regrettably however, what is needed to implement the said agreement for instance in 2004 is paltry N24 billion while the government only allocated meagre sum of N12 billion even while nothing was released in the previous three years the agreement ought to have taken effect.

From the above, it is clear that the education could be well funded from the abundant resources of the county if the government wishes but as long as this unjust capitalist system of privatisation of public utilities, commercialisation of social services, retrenchment of workers, deregulation holds sway, social services like education etc will continue to suffer.

To however stop this government attacks on education, ASUU needs a holistic approach to achieve this. It needs the support of all trade unions within and outside education sector such as NLC, NUT, ASUP, COEASU, NASU, SSANU, SSATHURAI, NARD, students, even parents etc. Most of these workers have ward(s) in schools across the country and are daily affected with one form of anti-people policy or the other of Obasanjo�s government.

In a distance of no time, ASUU will have no option than to resume its suspended strike. But the permanent solution lies with the overthrow of this capitalist regime and be replaced by a government of the working people, farmers, youth/students where the resources of the society will be democratically controlled and managed by the working people with a view to cater and satisfy the needs of the society and not the tiny few minority.

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The National Committee meeting of Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) holds on Saturday and Sunday, March 19th and 20th, 2005. The meeting is specially meant to discuss socio-economic and political situation nationally such as the Obasanjo�s national conference, Pro-democracy National Conference (PRONACO) stance, and what role is expected of the labour movement and what likely scenario lies ahead as we march towards year 2007 general elections amongst other things. This meeting will also discuss World economy situation and its implications. The meeting will be used to appraise the organisational target between the last NC and now viz: paper sales, recruitment, public activities etc. with the view of improving on the work of the organisation.

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The Ifako-Ijaye branch of DSM held a meeting on March 1st, 2005 to revamp branch activities after a period of relative inertia.

Listed as part of resuscitation programmes are recruitment drive for new members, contact with old members, communities paper sales, regular meeting of the branch (twice a month) and regular payment of membership dues.

A five-man EC was constituted with comrade Lekan, a factory worker activist and trader as the coordinator. To revive the branch, a public symposium on educational crisis in Nigeria with emphasis on privatisation of hostel and other school facilities is slated for March 17, 2005 at the branch secretariat 8, Agbado Station Road, Ijaye Ojokoro.

Coming a day after the March 16 day of action declared by students under the auspices of NANS Zone D whose leadership is controlled by DSM student member, the public symposium will be another campaign forum for socialist youth, students and parents to resist the ant-poor programme of the Obasanjo's regime.

For membership of the Ifako- Ijaye DSM, call any of these numbers: 08037207856, 08033040104, 08037186131, 08027385390.

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The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) has expelled Olamide Olatunji as a member of the organisation. His expulsion was based on an anti-organisational position he holds on the OAU crisis that led to a three-month closure.

He issued a statement with one Rotimi Odofin, which was reported in the Guardian of January 27, 2005 under the auspices of "Concerned Students". The said statement blackmailed and attacked a trade union, Academic Staff union of Universities (ASUU), OAU Branch, struggling to pressurize authorities to pay two-month salaries owed its members on the basis anti-worker "no-work no-pay" policy. This statement goes contrary to well-publicized position of the organisation on the issue as well as the orientation and ideas of DSM.

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the organisation invited him to defend himself on why a disciplinary action should not be taken against him. Instead, he decided to jump the gun by submitting a letter of withdrawal of membership from DSM. The NEC considered this conduct as a way of escaping sanction having committed and maintained a monumental anti-working class and anti-organisational stance. Hence, the decision to expel him.

However, the NEC recognises his right to appeal to the National Committee or the National Congress in accordance with the provisions of the DSM constitution.

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More than any other period in the history of public education in Nigeria, a new fighting union of teachers is needed to organize a mass defence against the ceaseless attack on public education as well as the un-ending trampling of the rights of teachers, pupils and students. By electing a leadership that is armed with the correct strategy and tactics at all levels- unit, local government, state and federal, etc, success in this respect is guaranteed. Indeed, the time to change the public perception of the NUT as a conservative and docile union is now!!!

� Teachers are poorly and irregularly paid

� Teachers are poorly and irregularly trained

� Teachers lack the most basic of teaching aids and materials

� Teachers lack offices, chairs, tables, electric fans and a conducive environment to teach and research

� Teachers are poorly remunerated for other compulsory jobs they do outside teaching, such as serving as electoral officers

� Teachers are poorly motivated

� Teachers are over worked as a result of over crowded classes

For other workers in the education sector and the students, the story is hardly different as we all suffer for the collective failure of the Nigerian capitalist government to adequately fund education and allow it to be democratically managed by workers and professionals in the teaching and educational sector.

The situation from primary to tertiary levels has continued to deteriorate with no end in site to the rot. Examples of these decay include:

� The collapse of structures like buildings in the public schools

� Over-crowded classes causing students to sit and study on the floor and in open spaces, sometimes under trees

� Ill-equipped laboratories many of which have, in any case, been converted into classrooms, thus making the teaching of science subjects virtually non-existence

� Complete absence of library facilities and lack of necessary books in the few available ones

� Shortage of teachers etc.

� Decline in pupils' enrolment into public primary schools with most parents handing over their wards to exploitative private proprietors whose only and real interest is profit

� Too few vacancies, compared with the hundred of thousands of those seeking higher education.

� Massive unemployment among school leavers and graduates - a horrifying situation that has created a growing layers of studentry that fundamentally have no confidence and interest in honest studies.

Historically, the conditions of service of the education workers across the board had never been rosy. Hence the well known saying that teachers "reward are in heaven". However, this never rosy conditions had come under an unprecedented systematic attacks and rots in the past 2 decades or so. The public education sector has been virtually destroyed due to age-long under-funding and corruption in the running of the entire system. The result today is the virtual state of hopelessness that pervades the sector from primary to tertiary levels. This ought not to be the case and in fact this deplorable condition should be resisted. With a fighting NUT leadership run democratically and primarily to better the lots of the rank and file education workers, a considerable improvement can be won on many of the deplorable conditions enumerated above.

Unfortunately however, the dominant type of NUT leaders we have today are those that are only willing to use the union platform to better their own personal lot instead of using the union as an instrument to defend and better the interest of all its members.

If the NUT leadership today is committed to a fight to ensure improved conditions of service i.e. to fight to ensure that every teacher has a chair and desk, offices and other necessary teaching aids, reasonable number of pupils and students per class, for democratic management and accountability of the limited fund being voted for and generated within education sector, etc, many of the aforementioned deplorable conditions can be rapidly improved upon. However, to achieve substantial and stable improvement on these conditions, the entire rotten economic and political system which currently forms the bedrock of educational and other policies have to be transformed.

Currently, as a result of the selfish nature of this system, the collective wealth and resources of the society are being centrally geared only primarily to serve the profit interest and egos of the few rich. On the contrary, the needed and desired improvement in the education and all other key sectors bordering on the living standard of the people can only be properly and permanently funded in a society where the collective wealth and resources are commonly owned and centrally but democratically run by the working people themselves on the basis of an express commitment to meet the needs and aspirations of everybody and not just the rich. In this respect, I will fight for a NUT leadership which recognises the necessity and at the same time, is committed to fighting to bring about a government of the working people, exclusively and unswervingly committed to masses cause and not to oil corporations, World Bank, IMF, etc, as being done by the capitalist governments across the country.

"Every onlooker is either a coward or traitor" - Amical Cabral. If you agree with the view points expressed above or if you merely want to have further discussion of these points, then join us immediately or get in touch with us immediately at Ajeromi-Ifelodun N.U.T. 08034513073.

If we fight we can win, if we don't, we have lost.

The struggle continues.

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The Federal government has released a timetable on privatisation of some public companies and parastatals. Companies, which cannot be privatized immediately, are to be given out under concession to private companies to manage and commercialise. These corporations like NEPA, NITEL, NPA, Railway Corporation, the refineries, steel industries etc were built from the collectively owned wealth of the country and but now are to be handed over to private individuals, some of whom contributed to grounding of the public properties, at give away prices to exploit Nigerians more.

To the Nigerian working people, especially the workers and the poor, this policy of privatisation, commercialization and concessionism will be catastrophic. Thousands of workers and their families who manage to survive on meagre salaries will be retrenched when these public enterprises are privatized, commercialized or given out on concessions to private entrepreneurs. This, the entrepreneurs will claim is necessary because there are many redundant workers in the enterprises. In reality, the entrepreneur is seeking to make as much profit as possible and as quickly as possible. A case in point is the recent retrenchment of 150 staff of Daily Times of Nigeria after it was sold to a private entrepreneur, fewer workers to do the same job used to be done by many.

Those left to work will be forced to take less and less pay or they will be forced to leave too like their colleagues who have been sacked. Also, to increase profit, the entrepreneur engages the cheap labour (like casual labourers). In the private oil companies, casual or contract labour is what obtains even though these companies make huge profit from one of the most important resources needed in the world today, which is oil. In pursuit of profit, the privatized enterprises will continue to increase prices making it impossible for those who need their goods and services but do not have enough money to go without it. A privatized NEPA will make many families for instance to live in darkness. Many families today cannot afford things like cars, good accommodation, good and qualitative education, good healthcare, good food and complete diet, good clothes, enough and clean pipe borne water for their household etc as a result of the inflation and will be worse off when public enterprises are handed over to private entrepreneurs.

Combined with all the evils of privatisation, commercialization and concessionism painted above is the fact that crime rate will soar, prostitution will increase, child trafficking will expand, poverty will become aggravated, and more and more curable diseases will claim lives. It therefore behooves on the labour and the working people to oppose these neo-liberal policies.

But the roles of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in this neo-liberal attack on the working people, is to say the least, very despicable. Adams Oshiomhole, NLC president sits on the National Council of Privatisation (NCP) the body that supervises the unwholesome sales of the public properties. The NLC like other labour centres, TUC and CFTU, supports the sales of those enterprises to the so-called core investors while turning a blind eye to the adverse impacts of the policy on the Nigerian workers in particular and the urban and rural poor in general. It is however not accidental that the labour leadership has joined the moving train of privatisation because they are as corrupt as the capitalist elite that plunder the wealth of country and subject the working people to suffer in the midst of plenty. They also lack an alternative worldview to the exploitative capitalist system, which is at root of socio-economic crises in the world over, particularly the neo-colonial third world countries like in the yoke of imperialism.

In the way and manner the struggle against incessant increase in fuel prices is waged, Workers should organise to fight the anti-people policy of privatisation, commercialization and concessionism and other forms of capitalist neo-liberal attack on the working people including retrenchment and education commercialisation. More importantly, they should with the support of the other oppressed strata (poor peasant, youth, students, artisans, etc) to form a genuine working people's party to wrestle power from the hands of capitalist thieves that are presently at helms of affairs at the local, state and national levels. Such a party must be based on rounded socialist programme and be aimed at facilitating replacement of capitalism with democratic socialist order through the workers and poor farmers' government. Under the said government, there must be re-nationalization of the already privatized companies and the public ownership of all the commanding heights of the economy placed under the democratic workers control and management to avoid the mistakes that led to the collapse of the former Soviet Union and other Stalinist economies.