SPN Oyo May Day 2013 Leaflet

RULING ELITE FAILURE AND MASSIVE CORRUPTION: JOIN SPN TO BUILD A WORKING MASSES POLITICAL ALTERNATIVE!

Greatest Oyo State working people! Since the regime of monumental waste and brazen looting of collective wealth of Christopher Alao Akala/PDP-led government in Oyo State was ousted, the expectation that the Abiola Ajimobi-led ACN government would bring an improvement to both the living and working condition of the entire working people in the state has been severally dashed.

Since the inauguration of Senator Abiola Ajimobi-led administration on the 29^th of May, 2011, it conducts and attitude towards the working people have clearly shown that the regime is not fundamentally different from the past anti-poor governments. 

First among the anti-worker actions of the Ajimobi government was to obstinately refuse the implementation of 13^th May consolidated salary agreement which his predecessor, Otunba Alao Akala approved for the Oyo State civil servants at twilight of his inglorious regime.

At different times, there were instances where workers, especially teachers and local government workers, were sacked based on allegations without an avenue for fair hearing to defend themselves. This is asides various query letters which were at different time issued to workers in order to intimidate them from demonstrating their democratic right of freedom of association and peaceful assembly.

While it wickedly retrenched thousands of workers in order not to pay minimum wage, Ajimobi government is celebrating the employment youths under a slave-driving YES-O scheme. The YES-O “volunteers” are paid poverty wage and not allowed to join trade union. They are paid a ridiculous amount of N10,000 out which N2,000 was allegedly deducted as tax.   

The height of the anti-worker disposition of Senator Ajimobi-led administration is the continued refusal to fully implement the paltry N18, 000 minimum wage which has been signed into law since March 25^th, 2011. Ridiculously, various false arguments and propaganda were spread by the government to incite other sections of the oppressed people in the state: petty traders, Okada riders, artisans, etc, who are not salary earners, against the civil servants.  False impression was given that there would be little or no money to invest on provision of basic infrastructure like road, water if the N18, 000 minimum wage is fully implemented for workers.

Here we are, almost two years of this administration has started unleashing attacks on pay and conditions of workers, petty traders, road side mechanics, other artisans and unemployed youths are now groaning under brutal attack on their means of livelihood. In the name of beatification at strategic places while the interior and inner roads are deplorable, thousands of buildings mainly used for different purposes like churches, houses, mosques and shops in many parts of Ibadan and Ogbomosho were demolished without any provision of alternative.

 Reminiscent of the inglorious era of military absolutism where culture of fear and intimidation is often imposed on the people, Senator Abiola Ajimobi-led administration through the service of some gangs of uniformed thugs who masquerade as Government monitoring team has continued, under the guise of beautification and cleaning-up project, to use brute force to subject thousands of small traders and artisans at different areas of Ibadan to all forms of harassment and physical assault.

Given this background, the tokenism of the ongoing road construction at some part of Ibadan amplified by media town criers is yet to bring any fundamental benefit to mass of the working but suffering people of the state.

According to the Economic Confidential Magazine, a breakdown of the net allocation to states of the federation shows that Oyo State got over N183.291billion between 1999 and 2012, this excludes over N178, 098billion accrued by local governments within the same period. However, millions of Oyo State working people continue to live without access decent housing, good road, potable water, quality education and functional healthcare.

If the resources accrued to the state are well utilized and its potential in agriculture and mineral resources are developed, we of the Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) strongly hold that the state has more than enough to provide basic infrastructure like water, good road and rural electrification etc, fund social services like education, health etc and pay living wage to civil servants without retrenchment.

But as long as we continue to have anti-working people capitalist system, which made it possible for huge percentage of the collectively owned state revenue to be shared among political office holders, politicians, private contractors and royal fathers in term of salaries, allowance and other corrupt benefits like inflated contracts, the economic woe of the Civil Servants, artisans, Okada riders, danfo drivers, traders will always go from bad to worse.

It is on this basis, we of SPN invite government and private sector workers, traders, transport workers, unemployed youths and students etc to join us in the process of building the SPN as an independent political party for the workers, youths and the poor. The government formed by SPN in the state will use resources for the benefit of the society and the working people. It will put government agencies and projects under democratic control of elected representatives of workers, communities and relevant professionals. Members of the party elected or appointed into public offices will earn the average salary of civil servants in addition to verifiable incidental expenses while the remaining income will be donated publicly to support the struggle and organizations of the working people and youths.

Therefore, if you are dissatisfied with the various anti-poor capitalist policies of Abiola Ajimobi government as well as President Goodluck Jonathan at the federal level and you are interested in fight back against these policies and in working people political alternative, the party to join now is the SPN.

INAUGURATION!!!

The Oyo State Chapter of Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) invites you to its official lunch in the state as a step towards building the party as a formidable alternative working peoples’ political party in the state.

Date: Wed, 29^th May, 2013.

Time: 12noon

Venue: NUJ Secretariat, Iyaganku, Ibadan

For further enquiries contact the following phone numbers:

08033914091,07066249160, 08033655995, 07042405314, 08056807994,

Or 2 Gbadebo Street, Bisi B/stop, Behind Ojulowo, Mokola, Ibadan, Oyo State