DSM Members hold June 12 Activities
Call for Mass Resistance against Petrol Price Hike and other Anti-poor Policies
On Monday June 12, members of the DSM held different activities across 4 states of the federation to mark the 30th anniversary of the June 12, 1993 presidential election whose annulment triggered a struggle against military rule and eventually led to the restoration of civil rule in 1999.
The advent of the so-called democracy has not mitigated attacks on democratic rights nor guaranteed a better living standard for the vast majority. Rather, the last 24 years have seen intensification of capitalist neo-liberal attacks. So it is not accidental that this anniversary came at the same time the government, incidentally formed by the wing of the capitalist ruling elite who built its base on the account of its association with June 12 resistance, has criminally hiked the price of petrol under the guise of subsidy removal by over 200 percent from N185 per liter to as high as N577. The government has also planned to unleash other anti-poor policies like devaluation of currency and high increase in fees of public universities.
Unfortunately, the leadership Nigeria Labour Congress, Nigeria’s main trade union federation, backed down from the general strike against the petrol price hike it had called.
So the central materials for the DSM’s activities on this day were a special leaflet which calls for mass resistance against the obnoxious petrol price hike and the current edition of our paper whose lead article articulates what should be done by working people and youth to fight the anti-poor policies of the new Tinubu government.
We held public meetings in Ibadan Oyo State and Oshogbo Osun State. In Lagos, comrades of Ifako-Ijaye Branch held tabling activities (leafleting and paper sale). In Ijebu Ode, leafleting and paper sale were held.
By and large, in all the activities, working people and youth were engaged with our socialist alternative program and the need to struggle against the capitalist attacks.
Over a thousand copies of the leaflet were circulated and about 30 copies of the SD were sold. Also, tens of contacts, who agreed to be invited to our next activities, were made.
Full reports of each of the activities will be published later.