OSUN SPN Protem
State Chairperson Comrade Alfred Adegoke and Comrade Omokunle Oladele Arrested
at Gun Point by the SSS
Release
Them Now!
PRESS STATEMENT
Two
leading activists in Osun State were today (Sunday 13 October 2013) arrested at
gun point by the men of the State Security Service (SSS) while campaigning
against the school merger policy of the Aregbesola government.
The duo of
Comrade Alfred Adegoke who is the protem State Chairperson of the Socialist
Party of Nigeria (SPN) and Coordinator of the Democratic Socialist Movement
(DSM) in the State and Comrade Oladele Omokunle (a member of both
organisations) were arrested at gun point this afternoon when men of the State Security
Service (SSS) swooped on activists gathered peacefully at a public meeting organized
by the Campaign for Democratic and Workers Rights (CDWR) and held in the
premises of the Fakunle Comprehensive High School.
We
strongly protest this nascent dictatorship of Governor Aregbesola and his
cabinet in their bid to force through a policy that is being widely questioned
by many people in Osun State. This disruption of a peaceful public meeting is
an affront and a breach on the constitutional rights to peaceful assembly. We
also condemn the arrest of the two comrades as an affront on their rights to
freedom of expression and association. We therefore demand their immediate and
unconditional release. Otherwise, we challenge the state government to charge
them to court if they had committed any offence for organizing a public meeting
against an anti-poor policy.
The
Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) is opposed to the school
merger/reclassification policy of the Osun State government because it is a
chaotic, undemocratic, ill-thought and pro-rich policy that has only helped to
throw the already dilapidated public education system of Osun State into chaos
and confusion. For instance, Fakunle Comprehensive High School which is one of
the best schools in the State is being marked for demolition to make way for a
shopping mall!
The main
thrust of the Osun State government education policy is to erect some white
elephant projects that can be quickly executed and used to campaign for the
next election instead of addressing the more important problems of how to
expand access to education, improve facilities and infrastructures in all
schools, provide schools in remote villages and towns where they are seriously
lacking and employ more teachers to ensure reduction in the shameful
teacher:student ratio in the state.
As a
working class political party prepared to offer a better alternative to the
chaos and retrogression represented by the All Progressive Congress (APC)
government of Aregbesola in Osun State, we have been involved in the campaigns
and struggle to resist this retrogressive education policy. We believe what the
education system in Osun State needs to be revived is massive injection of
public funds through increase in budgetary allocation and democratic control
and management of schools. If the truth must be told, the Aregbesola pro-rich
government and the APC, save for some white elephant projects, are incapable of
this.
This is
why they are attacking, with the aid of the Police and SSS, SPN members who are
resisting their anti-poor policies and building a viable political alternative
to rescue the State from them.
Segun Sango
Protem
National Chairperson
Socialist
Party of Nigeria (SPN)
Comrade Segun Sango and all cadres of SPN/DSM, this argument posed as the reason of resisting the government policy is porous, hence highly contestable. Your position is weakly supported by the insinuation that the govt want to erect white elephants projects in the name of political bickering.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, we need to more critical:
1. The arrest is barbaric and it must be condemned by all sane humans.
2. The students-teacher ratio in these to-be-merged schools, the present facilities among others are salient issues vis-a-vis avoiding congestion and skewed educational delivery. The insinuation that project must not be erected or state must not expand her size of purse is inconsistent with social reality. That is not socialism either.
3. You need to be wary of not playing to gallery of the religious zealot in the state and some political marauders who utilize all govt stances to score a political points.