No fewer than 500 students of polytechnics, universities, and even secondary school leavers, yesterday, protested on the streets of Lagos under the aegis of the Concerned Citizens Against Education Commercialization, COSATEC.
The protest was to register their displeasure at the Federal Government’s lackadaisical attitude towards ending the incessant strikes in the education sector.
The placard-carrying students barricaded Ikorodu Road at Onipanu area bemoaning their fate as they have been compelled to, yet again, sit at home due to the strike embarked upon by the lecturers.
The protest, however, brought traffic on the ever busy road to a halt as the students danced and played football on the highway.
Comrade Owolade Oluwasijibomi, the Student Union President, Federal Polytechnic Ado Ekiti, told our corespondent: “We just want to tell the Federal Government that enough is enough. We are tired of them playing with our future. We kept quiet about this for a while because we considered the fact that apart from the Federal Ministry of Education, there are other sectors involved.
However, over 70 days have passed and the situation has not changed. They have taken our gentility for stupidity. And we want to let them know that until they meet the demands of our lecturers, we will continue to constitute a nuisance.”
Chairman of COSATEC, Comrade Usman Oloyede, on his part said: “We are here to throw our weight behind the striking unions in the education sector, and advocate proper funding of the sector, democratic control as well as a conducive learning environment for Nigerian students.
“More protests should be expected. It is going to be a protracted struggle because those involved are ideologically mature. We are even calling on unemployed youths to join us. I do not mince words when I say almost everyone in this country is a victim of this our corrupt political system.
The only people who are exempted are the children of these our leaders. Anytime we complain, they keep on giving us seven point agenda as if we are fools.”
Chairman of the Education Rights Campaign, ERC, who joined forces with COSATEC said: “It is another movement by students to insist that the government act speedily and end these strikes. The polytechnic students have been at home since April 29.
A few weeks ago, we heard that the Senate had intervened and that we should expect good news by today. But the situation is still the same.”
NANS angry at lecturers’ strikes
The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, also yesterday appealed to the Federal Government, university lecturers and polytechnic teachers to resolve their face-off for the sake of students.
President of NANS, Mr Yinka Gbadebo, told the News Agency of Nigeria on telephone that students had continued to be victims of conflicts between lecturers and governments.
University teachers under the umbrella of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, embarked on an infinite strike on July 1 to protest non implementation of a part of an agreement it had with the Federal Government in 2009.
The agreement includes adequate funding of universities and university autonomy.
Also, lecturers in polytechnics, under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, have been on strike for months, also over Federal Government’s non implementation of an agreement.
Gbadebo said NANS members were angry at the lingering face-off which crippled academic activities in universities and polytechnics.
He said the union was not in support of ASUU, ASUP or the Federal Government, and wanted an end to the strikes which, he said, made the students idle, adding that the students were suffering unjustly.
He said: “Students were not part of the plans for the strikes. We were not consulted before the action. The strikes are causing setbacks for students who must have planned their future. We cannot condone this anymore. We shall no longer accept strikes, as we are always at the receiving end.”
