• A Bid of The Buhari’s Capitalist Government To Collapse Public Education. People Must Fight Back

By Olamide Adabale

Nothing has further proven the insensitivity of the Nigeria Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari towards the attack on public education than the repeated strikes of the University workers. It will be recalled that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) declared another two months of strikes after the expiration of a 4-week warning strike on February 14, 2022, over the failure of the Federal Government to meet the demands of the striking union, which bother on the renegotiation of 2009 Agreement and revitalization funds, non-payment of minimum wage and arrears, short-fall in salary payment amongst others

Added to this situation is the fact that the Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising of the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) have also extended their four-week-old strike by another one month in a statement the unions issued on April 21, 2022. 

The letter accused the FG of insincerity in its implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) reached with the Federal Government on October 20, 2020, and February 25, 2021. The MoA included the non-payment of minimum wage and other demands. The National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), its strike is also based on the failure of the FG to fully implement the demands signed, which are contained in the Memorandum of Understanding of 2017, 2020, and 2021.

 The general demands of these unions are the need for FG to fund public education. This includes infrastructure as most of the lecture theatres, hostels, and laboratories are dilapidated. Sadly, these hostels and lecture theatres are congested. This is because the construction of new hostels and lectures theatres are becoming businesses for University authorities as present witnesses, without the democratic management of the university fund.  

Unfortunately, the attitude of the FG to the shutdown of the Universities is nothing felts with any concern as nothing concrete is being done to progressively address the issue. Unfortunately, the response to the FG’s lack of funds to meet the demands of the striking unions is a clear indication that the Buhari government is not ready to fund public education. The same Buhari APC government that is spending N12billion monthly on the National Home-grown School Feeding Programmes under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development could not afford to release N200billion for improving infrastructures in public universities in the country.

These strikes are the addition to the frustration of Nigerian Students who even after passing through the hurdles of harsh learning conditions in the universities will later be exposed to the reality of the alarming rise in the rate of unemployment in the country. 

This Government lacks financial transparency and accountability on the resources of the country, which has taken as a principle the adoption of a policy of loan borrowing from the Chinese, IMF and the World Bank with nothing tangible to show for it in terms of the national economic growth, added with the siphoning and misappropriation of huge income generated from the adoption of fiscal policy of increase in indirect tax – company tax, import duties, Value Added Tax (VAT). 

Recently, it will be recalled that on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, the Federal Government said it has approved the establishment of twelve additional private universities. Needed to note is the fact that most of the private institutions in the country are owned by the past and present political ruling elite and their cronies. Given the number of students seeking admission has increased, and in order for private universities to be patronized, the public education is under continuous attack by this political class by starving the universities of funding through the neo-liberal policies are made to suffer underfunding and cuts.

The demands raised by these unions are genuine and must
be met by the government for the development of the education system as well as the well-being of the workers. At the minimum level, modern laboratory equipment in the universities is nothing to write home about compared to the recommended standard. Unfortunately, most laboratories in public universities are used as classrooms, and which National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) have repeatedly called on the government to intervene and fund public education adequately. 

The Movement for Socialist Alternative (MSA) condemns in the strong term the federal government’s refusal to implement the agreement reached with university unions. This Buhari regime has shown to be indifferent to the previous government over the neglect of the education sector and workers’ welfare. Despite warnings by the workers’ unions through a press statement or warning strike to call for government attention to its plight, it is so worrisome that workers would always resort to strike actions before the government looks to their grievances.

The demands raised by the unions are genuine and must be met by the government for the development of the education system as well as the well-being of the workers. Some of the grievances included in the demands are the non-constitution of visitation panels for universities, the inconsistencies in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) payment and the non-payment of Earned Allowance. Other demands are against the neglect and poor funding of the state universities, non-payment of the retirement benefits of their outgone members of staff and non-payment of arrears of the minimum wage. 

The demands raised by the unions are genuine and must be met by the government for the development of the education system as well as the well-being of the workers. Some of the grievances included in the demands are the non-constitution of visitation panels for universities, the inconsistencies in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) payment and the non-payment of Earned Allowance. Other demands are against the neglect and poor funding of the state universities, non-payment of the retirement benefits of their outgone members of staff and non-payment of arrears of the minimum wage. 

It is obvious that the capitalist government of Nigeria is not ready to fund education. From the budgetary allocation to the education sector in the 2022 budget, the government appropriates a mere 7.2% of the total budget, which is less than 2% of our GDP to the education sector. Over the years the government have always fallen below the UNESCO recommendations. Ideally, the international standards dictate the education sector gets an allocation of 20% of the total budget or 6% of the GDP. To win this struggle for better funding for education we call for a united struggle of workers in the education sector. To save the education sector and win the fight against the attack on workers’ welfare, unions in the university sector would have to unify their demands to meet and struggle side by side. This will guarantee continuous support from students, parents and the general, masses.