Friday 31 August 2018

THE INCESSANT UNREST IN AJEGUNLE IS LARGELY CAUSED BY FAILED POLICIES

By Fidel Davynovich 
SPN Ajegunle

Following the unrest clawing down to pieces the Aiyetoro  community for the past two weeks now, residents on Saturday August 18 from different streets in Ajegunle gathered themselves in an open place to deliberate on the practical solutions to this unrest, pounding the entire area especially the Layinka street. 

Hundreds of people of all categories: workers, mothers, men, girls and youth were all at the meeting to deliberate. A lot of issues relating to the recent clashed between the two community: Layinka and Olumoku were deliberated which had led to the serious unrest and sleeplessness in the area. Residents are embittered over the way and manner the crisis had been handled so far by some people in the community. 

Just to mention, the recent clash which took place at the bridge on Sunday 19/8/2018 was a python bite that confirmed the total collapse of the State in its social functions and responsibility. The whole entire Aiyetoro community was in rampage. Hundreds of people especially the Layinka youths who were trying to defend their neighborhood against Olumoku, were seriously injured. One of the SPN members Ajegunle who were at the explosion of the clashes, trying to calm both sides from killing each other was attacked with a cutlass in the head.

The Ajeromi Police Patrol Van stationed at the Bridge, a day before the protest held by women on 18/8/2018 was burnt to ashes by the rampage youths of Olumoku. As the situation got out of control immediately after the Ajeromi Police men came to maintain law and order. The army had to be called to intervene to quell the whole crisis from degenerating into sectarian war in the Aiyetoro community as once occurred in year 1999 and 2000 respectively.

However, what is more worrisome is the attitude of the Nigerian Police at Ajeromi Police Station and the Pako Police Station. According to report gathered, the Pako Policemen have been doing nothing practically and seriously to arrest the ugly situation. Instead they have decided to allow this rage to continue in the community especially from the other end of Olumoku that shares boundary with Layinka for weeks now since this unrest started. 

Prior to Saturday’s meeting, about thirty women protested on Friday August 17 to the Ajeromi Police Station over the illegal raid conducted by the policemen of that station, tormenting innocent citizens in the community instead of giving them the necessary protection. 

The protest was to demand the immediate release of those innocent youths arrested by the police, the police accused to be part of those committing terror and breaking into people's shops in the community. The DPO in the person was forced to grant them bail seeing the weight of the agitation that morning. About eight of them were immediately released. That same morning, the women marched to the Baale of Aiyetoro 1 (Fakule) to bring his attention to this matter. 

Majority of the women who were petty traders at the inner part of Layinka street and along the Bridge, complained bitterly that for days since the gang war had started they hardly sell anything. In fact, they hardly sleep because of fear especially from the Olumoku boys. According to them, they relied on this petty trade to feed their families. They accused the government for failing to come to their rescue on this matter. 

This unrest that has been on for the past two weeks is largely caused by the anti-poor policies of the APC, PDP and all bourgeois political parties at the Federal, State and Local Government level, whose policies for the past years have worsened  the living condition of the poor masses in the community. 

In fact, what has degenerated to this communal unrest in the Ajegunle community is the inability of the successive governments at all levels since 1999 to provide welfare and job opportunities. For the Socialist Party of Nigeria addressing such crises will require using public fund to adequately provide the need of people.

The spontaneous protest that SPN members participated prompted the Saturday August 18 meeting. The meeting was massively attended. Community leaders like the Community Development Association: Layinka 1 and 2 were in attendance. The Ward A councillor, the District Police Officer, activists, youths etc were all in the meeting to find out a lasting solution to this problem ravaging the whole entire neighbourhood. 

Various reactions and proposals were raised by individual persons. Some of the proposals were the re-introduction of jungle justice left many years in Ajegunle which at some point led to serious sectarian clash then. The proposal of jungle justice was rejected. Others were of the view of constituting a vigilante group. If nothing is done the situation will get worse in the coming period, going by the recent breaking of shops in the neighborhood. 

However, majority of the people mostly women and youths at the meeting bitterly expressed anger over the method and the attitude of the Nigeria police officers raiding innocent people illegally and  forcing them to bail themselves with money as high as N25000. The DPO when addressing some of the issues on ground said he was going to deal with the issue of illicit raiding and extortion including disciplining officers who embark on it. 

There was an argument at the meeting that police rank and file workers are well paid and there was no basis for extortion. We of the SPN strongly agree that the extortion of the masses by the police cannot be supported or justified. However, we hold that the Nigerian Policemen and women who are also workers suffer the same terrible living and working condition. Majority of them are not paid their salaries as at due. There is no welfare package for them especially when assigned for special mission. 

Majority of these policemen are underpaid compare to the top echelons in the Nigerian Police who benefit largely from the security votes accrue to the APC, PDP bourgeois politicians in addition to looting of statutory allocations. The SPN support the democratic rights of the Nigerian police men and women to constitute a union that will defend their own interests for better pay, conditions and welfare while in the service and even after it.

For a meeting that started around 9:15 am and lasted for more than two hours and thirty minutes. Some practical proposals were put forward. That there is need to have a democratic women and youth task force or committee in the community. That a letter should be drafted to the Ifelodun LCDA and the Pako Police Station drawing their attention over the ongoing unrest between the two neighbourhoods in order to find a lasting solutions to the clash.  

The Socialist Party of Nigeria holds both the government of Ambode and the Ayoola led Ajeromi Ifelodun APC administration culpable for the unrest because of their anti-poor policies and mismanagement of resources.

We in SPN understand very well that all the chief executives at the Federal, State and Local Government level collect security votes. For us in SPN it is a wastage of public fund on the so-called public officer holders, where there are thousands of need such fund can be used to improve on the living condition of people in communities. It is lack of social welfare and possibly acquisition skill programme that largely has contributed to this unrest.

If SPN is in power in Lagos State and local government area, the issue of social welfare shall be given priority in order to reduce drastically communal unrest caused by unemployment, lack of social welfare, etc. The public wastages on public officers will be cancelled in order to invest massively in the State to cater for the primary need of people. The government will be democratically run at the state and local council level with involvement of elected representatives of workers and community people in decisions on finances, projects and other activities of the government.


Thursday 30 August 2018

ALFRED ADEGOKE DECLARES SUPPORT FOR THE THREE-DAY WARNING STRIKE OF OSUN WORKERS


PRESS STATEMENT

The candidate of the Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) in the Osun 2018 gubernatorial election, Barrister Alfred Adegoke, has declared his unflinching support for the workers of Osun State in their ongoing struggle for the payment of their arrears of salaries and the unpaid gratuities of pensioners in the state.

Barrister Alfred Adegoke believes the three-day warning strike embarked upon by the workers was "long overdue after the APC-Aregbesola government has consistently taken workers' patience for granted." The candidate of the SPN further stated that "workers should by now have seen the fallacies and falsehood in the excuses adduced by the Aregbesola's government in support of the evil modulated salary payment system of the regime." 

"Construction works carried out by the state government are not sufficient as excuses for the non-payment of workers and pensioners the full legal value of their labour for the state. It is in fact the penchant of the Aregbesola's regime for inflating the cost of these projects, through the fraudulent contract system, that landed the state in huge debts, hence the non-payment of workers," he said. Alfred Adegoke further declared that "what the Aregbesola regime has showed is that it is ready to make innocent workers suffer the consequences of the systematic corruption that has characterised Aregbesola's eight years reign of impunity." 

Alfred Adegoke encouraged the workers to fight resolutely for what they are legally and morally entitled to. He also reminded the workers to seize the forthcoming September 22 gubernatorial election to put an end to the recycling of the same crop of ruling elites that has ruined the state since 1999. In his words, "I am standing in this election, with a background of activism, and belief that government must be organized in the interest of society. And this is why the SPN shall put an end to the contract system that has served as a conduit pipe for siphoning public fund while also putting at public disposal the jumbo allowances that political office holders earn, because neither I nor any political appointee shall take more than what an average professional in the Osun State's civil service earns on monthly basis. Neither shall we collect jumbo allowances. 

If elected as Governor, the SPN government will pay all arrears of salaries and pensions, and other outstanding allowances. To get money for all this, we shall stop all illegitimate allocations like security votes and other jumbo allowances, while all political appointees, including myself will earn the salary of professional worker in the state civil service. We shall recover all state funds looted through inflated contracts and unjustified loans. The SPN government shall stop payment for all inflated contracts and loans, and we shall end the era of fraudulent contract system with a well-equipped public work department whose finances and operation will be under a democratic control of the working people and communties."

Barrister Alfred Adegoke equally assures workers of his continuous support and solidarity "as I have stood with you in the past at the barricades of struggle. We are now seeking political power to install a government that would prioritize the wellbeing of the people of our great state."

Oluwole Olubanji
Organising Secretary, on behalf of Alfred Adegoke Campaign Committee

Osun Governorship Election - New Financial Appeal


The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) and the Campaign Committee of Alfred Adegoke for Osun Governor 2018, wish to specially appreciate all those who have contributed in one way or the other towards the prosecution of the Socialist Election Campaign in Osun State, especially those who have contributed financially towards the Campaign.
We wish to state that your supports have been useful and effective. Currently, the Socialist Campaign is reaching a wide layer of youths and working people in Osun State. It has also pushed our socialist message out. Our candidate, Comrade Alfred Adegoke, has granted interviews to at least 5 media platforms (print and broadcast). Furthermore, our posters and leaflets have been distributed across the state. We have moreover launched our Campaign through a rally in Osogbo. These activities have shown what can be achieved, even with limited resources.
The SPN launched a N2 million (two million naira) Fund Raising Campaign. However, up till now, we have been able to raise about N200, 000 naira (two hundred thousand naira). We have produced 4, 000 leaflets and 1000 posters, all of which have been exhausted. As the election, which is slated to hold on September 22, 2018, draws closer, the need to intensify our campaign and push our socialist programmes and manifestoes to wider layer of the masses become more important than ever. We have plans to produce new posters and leaflets; organized campaign rallies in five zones, organize symposia and embark on media campaigns including production of jingles and press conference.
This is why we are launching a new financial appeal from our members, supporters, friends, civil society activists; labour unions, union leaders and activists, workers, youths and those who believe in the need for a new political paradigm, away from the capitalist arrangement we have now.
We wish to raise N440, 000 (four hundred and forty thousand naira) in the next one to two weeks for the following:
Posters (2000) – N 80, 000
Leaflets (8000) – N160, 000
Sound System and vehicle for rallies – N100, 000
Logistics and mobilization – N100, 000

You can send your financial contributions to the following accounts:
Account Name: Socialist Party of Nigeria
Account Number: 1015587065
Bank: Zenith Bank

You can also pay directly or in cash to:
SPN State Secretariat: Suite 38/39, Abiola Shopping Complex, 123 Station Road, Osogbo (08059399178, 08083003385)
SPN National Headquarters Annex: 49, Charity Road, New Oko Oba, Agege, Lagos (08134771300, 08098284000)
SPN National Headquarters: Flat 2, Plot 29, First Avenue, FHA Estate, Karu-Abuja (07032069383, 08076211169)

This fund is very important and urgent for our campaign to go ahead. We will appreciate any amount you can give in this direction. We will also welcome supports in kind and in materials. 

Thank you

Kola Ibrahim
Campaign Coordinator

Sunday 26 August 2018

SPN Insists Amosun-led Ogun state government is not only anti-worker; it is equally anti-student and anti-poor


RE: OGUN REJECTS ANTI-WORKERS TAG


PRESS STATEMENT


The Guardian on Sunday, August 19, 2018, published a story with the title: Ogun Rejects Anti-Workers Tag.  In the published story, the Ibikunle Amosun–led APC government through the Commissioner of Culture and Tourism, Bashorun Muyiwa Oladapo,  was reported  to have bemoaned the alleged unhappiness of the state workforce with the government, leading to current fractured relationship with the governor, Ibikunle Amosun.
 

The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN), wishes to state emphatically that the governor and the commissioner, who is also a gubernatorial aspirant under the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), are both completely off the mark.  SPN reiterates that the hard working but suffering workers are presently groaning under the excruciating pains of anti-workers and anti-poor people policies being implemented by the government. The working masses, artisans, traders, students and other oppressed strata of the society, whose living and working conditions have deteriorated under this APC-led government, should demonstrate their unhappiness by preparing   to vote out this government and its anti-poor programs come 2019!


It is curious that a government that has continually attacked the democratic rights of workers, spurned their legitimate demands for improved welfare condition, failed to honor agreements and consequently created an atmosphere of hostility and suspicion, would expect to enjoy a harmonious relationship devoid of fractures with its workforce.  Governor Ibikunle Amosun led APC  government  has worsened the economic wellbeing and working conditions of Ogun civil servants by its refusal to pay workers’ 48 months leave allowances and 18 months  deductions since 2015 till date; failing to remit the pension funds deducted from workers’ salaries in the last 90 months to contributory pension scheme; deferring promotion in arrears for the last three years, and still running; owned retirees’ gratuities for several months; sacking trade union leaders; inconsistently releasing  monthly running  cost thereby compelling  civil servants to spend parts of their meagre salaries after deductions to pay for electricity bills in their various offices to avoid disconnections, buy papers to generate reports and pay for its production at private business centers at personal cost; and openly expressing  its unwillingness to support workers’ demand for new minimum wage. It is preposterous that such government is concerned of being tagged as anti-workers government. Actually going by its record, it is crystal clear that the Amosun-led Ogun state government is not only anti-worker, it is equally anti-student and anti-poor. 


It is clear that the teeming working masses of Ogun state that have been at the receiving end of the government anti-poor policies of public private partnership, underfunding of education, commercialization of healthcare services, privatization of public utilities, tax burden, outsourcing, inflated road contracts etc., are tired  of APC-led government . The workers of Ogun are yearning for alternative that can guarantee decent life. However, such alternative cannot be offered and guaranteed by PDP with similar poor record in the state and other pro-capitalist political parties as they all prioritize the interest of a few over that of the vast majority. We therefore call on workers, youth and the masses in Ogun State to join the SPN whose program entails using the resources of the society, both human and material, for the benefit of the vast majority.



SIGNED



Eko John Nickolas

State Secretary SPN Ogun