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For struggle, Solidarity and Socialism in Nigeria

Committee for a Workers' International

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Socialist Democracy March - April 2005

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.

Socialist Democracy March - April 2005