A statement today by its National Coordinator, Hassan Taiwo Soweto, said the central issue that has forced the union to embark on the new action is the Federal Government’s continued refusal to fully implement the FGN/ASUU agreement signed in 2009.
Recalling that the ERC was involved in various actions at that time to get the agreement signed, the campaign said it was duty bound to stand with ASUU and university lecturers in the current struggle to get the agreement fully implemented
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“As experience of the last three and half years have shown, it would take far more monumental struggle than the one needed to get the agreement signed to force the corrupt capitalist government to implement it,” the ERC statement said.
It described the action as a mass struggle to compel the government to commit Nigeria’s resources to the funding of education, provision of adequate teaching facilities and to meet the needs of staffs in terms of pay and working conditions.
“Ultimately not one of the demands of ASUU can be satisfactorily implemented without a turnaround in government’s lackadaisical, negligent and anti-poor attitude to education. Needless to say, only a government that is truly committed to using Nigeria’s resources to fund education can fully and satisfactorily guarantee the pay and working conditions of staff,” ERC said.
It stressed that this is why in the current strike and subsequent ones, the demands for improvement in education funding, democratic management of schools and provision of free education at all levels have to be fully placed on the front burner, not as secondary issues but as demands ASUU would be willing to continue to fight for even if the agreement presently in contention is implemented.
Towards that end, it encouraged ASUU to begin the mobilisation of its members, students, youth and the public for public mass actions, stating that no reasonable person can blame University lecturers for embarking on strike again. Since 2009, it pointed out, the Union has embarked on a series of actions, including dialogues and occasional strikes, none of which have succeeded in convincing the government to meet its demands.
ERC described as “very unfortunate” the apathy on the part of the Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).
“This gives the wrong impression that perhaps students have no grievances or demands to put on the table. Meanwhile students bear the brunt of government anti-poor policies of education underfunding and commercialisation. Nearly 10 students have been killed by the police this year alone during protests on campuses.”
It called on the students to organise themselves and put forward their grievances and demands on such issues as fee hikes, underfunding, inadequate facilities, poor municipal services and victimisation. “We call on NANS to immediately declare and begin to mobilise for a one-day nationwide lecture boycott and mass protest as a way to put forward students’ demands and also to give active solidarity support to the strike actions of ASUU, ASUP and SSANIP,” the statement said.
It noted that ASUU, ASUP and SSANIP are fighting for generally the same thing – the welfare of their members and the adequate funding of education.
“The fact that the three unions are on strike at the same time and arguing the same issues shows there is basis for unity. The ERC believes their strikes will be more powerful and highly effective if linked together as a jointly coordinated strike movement to fight for improvement in public education.”
In order to accomplish that, ERC called on ASUU, ASUP, SSANIP and NANS to link up their struggles by mobilising for joint rallies, protest and mass demonstrations.
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