WAVES OF INDUSTRIAL ACTIONS IN OYO STATE TERTIARY INSTITUTION FURTHER UNDERSCORE THE INSENSITIVITY AND IRRESPONSIBILITY OF SENATOR AJIMOBI/APC-LED GOVERNMENT IN THE STATE

*Striking workers must begin to organize activities like protest, symposia, rally to build the sympathy and support for their demands!
**Parents, students and general public must prevail on the Ajimobi/APC-led government to accede to the demands of the striking workers!!
 

Press Statement

The socialist party of Nigeria, SPN, Oyo State Chapter describes the waves of lingering industrial actions that have crippled both the academic and administrative activities across the Oyo State owned tertiary institutions as a sign of high level of insensitivity and irresponsibility of Senator Ajimobi/APC-led government in the state. Therefore, the party urges the striking workers to remain resolute, steadfast and begin to organize activities like protests, symposia, and rallies across the state with a view to build the sympathy and support of parents, students and general public in order to prevail on the Ajimobi/APC-led government to accede to their demands.
 

Since Friday June 22, 2018, the entire workers in the four out of the six tertiary institutions fully owned by the Oyo State has decided to resume an industrial action which was suspended on February 1, 2018 following an agreement signed with the Oyo State government on the January 31, 2018. Through this agreement, the Oyo State-led government made a commitment to release funds to clear the arrears of workers’ salaries that range from 8 to 24 months. Other commitment made by the Oyo State in the said agreement is to increase the subvention to all the institutions in order to guarantee smooth running of their activities. It must be noted that this subvention has since the inception of Ajimobi-led government been slashed to 25% of pre-Ajimobi-led government amount.
 

More than six months after this agreement is signed, workers across the six tertiary institutions are still owed salaries arrears while there is yet to be sign that Ajimobi-led government is prepare or ready to increase the subvention. Again, since the commencement of this strike, senator Ajimobi-led government has not only refused to create an avenue to attend to the grievances of the striking workers but has also attempted to blackmail the striking workers by giving an impression that his government is not to be blamed for the plights of the striking workers.
 

It is this attitude of the Ajimobi-led government which we describe as high level of insensitivity and irresponsibility that eventually compelled workers in The Polytechnic, Ibadan and The Ibarapa Polytechnic, Eruwa, to join the strike on the 10 August, 2018 and 20 July, 2018 respectively. Situation in LAUTECH, which is partly owned by Oyo and Osun State, two APC controlled states, has not fared better. At present, academic activities in LAUTECH has been placed on hold since 6 August, 2018 owing to a two week warning strike embarked upon by Academic staff of the institution. This is also in connection with the failure of both the Oyo and Osun state to honour the agreement signed with the union prior to suspension of their 6 month industrial action in 2017
 

SPN condemns in totality the act of owing workers a month salary let alone salary arrears that range from 8 to 24 months, at the same time, frowns at the act of cutting down subvention to any percentage by Senator Ajimobi-led government. We believe that education is a social responsibility of the government which means that it is compulsory for any government to always ensure that it is adequately and properly funded irrespective of whether or not each of the educational institution has the capacity to generate revenue internally. Without the government being prevailed upon to increase its funding on education students will always at the risk of being charged fees that will always beyond the reach of the poor and working class parents. Already, this has been exemplified by the situation in LAUTECH where the school governing council has just approved school fee that range from N250, 000 to N300, 000 undertaking undergraduate programmes.
 

SPN condemns this increment and call for immediate reversal! However, to forestall the repeat and spread of this trend of incessant increment in fees across the other Oyo State-owned tertiary institutions will require the need for students, parents and general public to lend a support to the striking workers in these institutions to demand proper and adequate funding of the institutions.
The claim that there are no enough financial resources to adequately and properly fund public education is not true! There are more than enough resources at the disposal of the state that can guarantee adequate and proper funding of public education in the state. The reason these huge resources continue to fail to reflect in any improvement in the quantity and quality of public education in the state is the misappropriation and financial corruption by members of the ruling class both in government and business in the state.
 

Huge proportion of the resources that are meant to fund public education and other social services are often shared through bloated salaries/allowances and inflated contracts among the political office holders and their acolytes in business. It is in a bid to bring an end to this tradition of impunity among the political class that SPN calls on the striking workers, students and parents of the affected institution to echo its age-long demands which include an end to the inglorious regime of security vote, corrupt contract system while ensuring that money liberated from this measure is massively invested in social services like education, health etc and public infrastructure through a public work programme placed under a democratic control of a committee of workers and members of the community. This is very important because inflation of contracts has been one of the ways through which politicians and big business siphon public money under contract system. 
 

In conclusion, SPN holds that, workers in education sector should begin to realize that the struggle for adequate funding of education and improvement in workers' wages has to be linked with the necessity of a pro- masses government that can commit society's resources to provide free and functional education and guarantee decent living standards to all categories of working people. This will involve building a genuine, mass-based fighting workers political party committed to leading the working people to achieve its historical task of taking over political power from the capitalist ruling class and establishing a workers and poor people’s government with socialist plan of production which is the only society that can guarantee the provision of a free and functional education for all Nigerians

Comrade Kolapo Oladapo                                   Comrade Ayodeji Adigun
(08032282084)                                                      08034817064 
State Chairperson                                                State Secretary

SPN CONDEMNS SIEGE ON THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY COMPLEX

No Trust in Any Section of the Capitalist Ruling Elite

CALLS ON THE WORKING MASSES TO STRUGGLE FOR GENUINE WORKING CLASS DEMOCRACY

PRESS STATEMENT

The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) strongly condemns the siege mounted in the early hours on Tuesday, August 7, 2018 by men of the Department of State Services (DSS) on the National Assembly Complex. The entire circumstances that surrounded and characterized the undemocratic incident at the NASS complex are reminiscent of the similar police blockade of the National Assembly in 2014 under the previous PDP administration. This has confirmed the fact that no section of the capitalist politicians is different when it comes to the use of state security/repressive apparatuses to subvert the will of the people and suppression of the opposition, especially in desperation to either hold on to power or consolidate it.

Therefore, the SPN urges the Nigeria working people not to be sympathetic to any section of the thieving elites in conflict or fall prey to their antics knowing fully well that they will always united in their attacks against the wellbeing and social welfare of the masses. 

Instead, the entire working masses must be united to condemn and reject any attempt to use the instruments of coercion to subvert the democratic process. But this has to be linked with the struggle for the enthronement of a genuine working class democracy that will always be representative of the interest and aspiration of the working people across in the country.

It should be recalled that since the commencement of this current civil rule in 1999 the Nigeria working masses, despite being the major actors in the struggle that led to the current seemingly democratic process, have never fundamentally benefited from any socially and economically known dividends of the so called democracy, in terms of workers' welfare, affordable education and healthcare, housing and electricity. This is not the case for the various sections of the thieving ruling elites who often feed fat from the public resources and force, preside and drive various anti-poor capitalist policies that often make the living condition of the working people to go from bad to worse.

As a matter of fact it is the ongoing fights and struggle among the capitalist ruling elites over strategic positioning that will guarantee their access to loot the public treasury is being reflected in the recent acrimonious defection among capitalist politicians from one bourgeois political party to another that culminated in the siege laid on the NASS by the DSS. These conflicts are driven by self-serving interests of the individual politicians and the small capitalist class. They have nothing to do with improving economic conditions of the Nigerian people, and end the galloping unemployment that is ravaging the country. 

Therefore, none of the players in this political kabuki is worth the sympathy of the masses, as they all constitute formidable threat to the prosperity of this country and aspiration of the average man for a decent living standard. Hence, the masses should not in any way support any of the warring factions of the capitalist ruling elite.

It is in the light of this, we of the SPN strongly feel that a call on the working masses to resist any attempt to return this county to the dark ages of military subversion of democratic institutions and processes. This resistance must be organically linked to the task of the working masses to salvage this wobbling and failing pro-rich dictatorial capitalist democracy, and enthrone a government and politics that are genuinely representative of their interest.

Therefore, we call the working masses to exercise their will on the democratic process by supporting and electing a party with clear policies and manifestoes that put the needs of the masses and entire society first as the basis of governance, production and distribution of wealth. This is achievable if the working masses join and build the Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) as a pan Nigeria political party to challenge and defeat the anti-masses political establishments, break with capitalism and set the country towards prosperity and development that meets the needs of all.

Abiodun Bamigboye 

Acting National Chairperson

Chinedu Bosah

National Secretary

SPN Holds Public Meetings in Akwa Ibom, Cross River - PhotoNews

Over the weekend between August 3 and August 5, Dagga Tolar a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) visited Akwa Ibom and Cross River States where the party organised three different public meetings. The meetings held in Etinan and Uyo in Akwa Ibom State and Calabar Cross River State were attended by members and supporters. 

Etinan

Uyo

Calabar 

Oyo SPN Holds Community Sensitisation

Members of Oyo State Chapter of the Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) on Saturday August 4 at Orita Challlenge Ibadan  circulated leaflet and engaged the ordinary people with alternative pro-masses programme of the party. This was with a view of mobilising members and mass support for the party. It was part of the ongoing sensitisation exercise by the party in different communities in the state statrting with Ibadan. The next port of call this weekend is Sango/Poly Junction in Ibadan.

 

Osun Guber Election: Appeal for Financial Support

Comrades, friends and compatriots, the Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) is contesting the Osun state gubernatorial elections coming up September 22 with comrade Alfred Adegoke. The aim of this campaign is to offer a genuine alternative to workers and the poor masses in Osun against moneybags politicians of PDP, APC SDP and ADC. Alfred Adegoke is a lawyer, socialist and longstanding activist in Osun state and Nigeria. He is the best bet for workers and poor people in Osun state who have suffered terribly under the different AD, PDP and APC governments in the state. At the moment, workers and retirees in Osun state are being owed several months of salary and pensions.

If we do not want a repeat of the Ekiti elections where voters chose between two evils, then we had better backed and helped build the widest possible support for Alfred Adegoke and the SPN. We are raising a sum of 2million naira to conduct campaigns before Sept 22. Our budget is low because we do not plan to buy votes or pay thugs. Instead, we are campaigning on issues and reaching out to different segments of society with our message.

We need this amount to get our campaign materials posted and circulated in all nooks and crannies of the state and to organise town halls and door knocking on every streets! Our campaign rests on the working and poor people because our government, if elected, is to serve the working and toiling people.  All political office holders in SPN government will be on workers salary. Please support us! Acct name: Socialist Party of Nigeria, 1015587065. Zenith bank. Every kobo counts and we shall do public accounting of how monies donated were spent. Thanks as you support with the little you can. Nigeria can be better if we fight for it!

SPN Supports Lecturers’ Strike in Osun State

Press Statement:

The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN), Osun State Chapter hereby throws its weight behind the strike action being organized by the lecturers in the four (4) state-owned colleges of education and polytechnics. These institutions include: Osun State Colleges of Education in Ilesa and Ila, Osun State Polytechnic, Iree and Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke. The strike is predicated on the deliberate failure of the Rauf Aregbesola/APC government to meet the genuine demands of lecturers.

The lecturers are demanding, among others, immediate end to modulated/half salaries; immediate payment of all outstanding salaries and allowances, running to 19 months; remittance of all arrears of cooperative deductions, pension contributions and union dues; recall of all retrenched lecturers, and improvement in facilities and working conditions in the state owned tertiary educational institutions.

We of the SPN totally support these demands and call on Aregbesola/APC government to meet these demands without further delay, if it still has any sense of responsibility. It is shameful that the Aregbesola/APC government will still be paying workers illegal modulated/half salaries and pensions, for almost three years. The same government that denies workers their rightful and statutory entitlements gives contractors and banks billions of naira from the state allocations under the guise of paying obviously odious and fraudulent debts. Curiously, many of the projects upon which the debts were incurred have been abandoned or uncompleted.

While the government gives billions of naira to crony contractors and financiers, workers and retirees are denied their salaries and pensions, while social services and infrastructures continue to rot away. The conditions of our tertiary institutions speak volume about how the Aregbesola/APC government has worsened already bad situation. For instance, for almost eight years, no capital project was carried out by the state government in any of the polytechnics, colleges of education and Osun State University (UNIOSUN). There is huge shortfall of teaching staff in all the state-owned polytechnics and colleges of education. In many departments in these institutions, there are less than three lecturers. The number of lecturers in College of Education, Ikere Ekiti is more than all the lecturers in the two Osun state-owned colleges of education. Rather than employ more academic staff, the Aregbesola government embarked on mass retrenchment of teaching and non-teaching staff in these tertiary institutions. This reflects the insensitive and retrogressive character of the Aregbesola/APC government.

Worse still many of the lecturers are placed on casual employment, earning extremely poverty wages. And to add insult to injury, those on regular employment are being owed 19 months’ salary arrears, while various deductions from their salaries such as contributory pension deduction, cooperative dues and union dues are not remitted by the government to necessary quarters. This has worsened the financial conditions of lecturers in these institutions. Also, the government has failed to pay its own share of pension contributions to the pension administrators, thus placing retirees in serious crisis. Yet, in the last seven and half years, school fees have been increased more than 100 percent while workers have been forced to embark on strike for more than 2 years of the eight-year rule of Aregbesola government. It is thus not accidental that our tertiary institutions have been riddled with crises.

Given these serial attacks on tertiary education by the Aregbesola/APC government, the lecturers deserve all support and solidarity needed to achieve victory.

The rot in tertiary education in Osun State is similar to those in other sectors like the health sector. The health sector in Osun State has never had it so bad. Aside serious shortfall in health and medical personnel in health institutions in the state, cost of access to health services have increased astronomically under the Aregbesola government, due to chronic underfunding of the health sector by the government. The main state-owned tertiary health institution in the state, LAUTECH Teaching Hospital has been turned into a semi-privatized institution, as poor people could hardly access services in the institutions, while medical and health workers in the hospital and other health facilities are owed several months’ arrears of salaries.

Primary school and local government workers and retirees have not received June salaries and pensions in August, while government owes workers across the sectors 19 full months’ arrears of salaries and pensions. While working conditions of workers’ plummet, the government could not account for over N200 billion debt incurred and more than N300 billion revenue as uncompleted and abandoned projects litter the state.

As we support lecturers in the state tertiary institutions, we also call on them to take the road of mass action, as the only language the Aregbesola government understand is that of mass action.

Finally, we call on lecturers and working people in Osun State to seek political solution to the serial attacks launched by the Aregbesola government on workers. SPN is contesting for Governor in the forthcoming Governorship Election in Osun State. We are providing genuine socialist political alternative to the rot represented by the APC. We call on workers, youth and the masses to support and vote the SPN candidate, Alfred Adegoke in the forthcoming election as a way of ending the rule of poverty, suffering and perfidy represented by the Aregbesola/APC government.

Signed

Alfred Adegoke
SPN Governorship Candidate

Kola Ibrahim

State Secretary