By TINA TIMOTHY

A group, Workers and Youths Solidarity Network (WYSN), has vehemently rejected the over 500% hike in the school fees by authorities of University of Lagos (UNILAG).

WYSN, in a statement on Tuesday, July 25, 2023 signed by its Secretary, Damilola Owot, demanded that all hiked fees be reversed with immediate effect.

The statement reads In part: “We of the Workers and Youths Solidarity Network (WYSN) reject the recent over 500% increment in fees imposed on the students by the Management of the University of Lagos. We consider this as a high level cruelty, insensitivity, and callousness.

“We are opposed to the plan of the University Management and the National University Commission to impose bogus fees on the students in an attempt to cover up for the poor funding of education by the government. We demand that the University Management of UNILAG and other tertiary institutions turn to the government for funding rather than imposing more hardship on the toiling and ordinary people. Likewise, we call on students, unions, staff and the general populace to rise and salvage the Nigerian education sector from total collapse.”

Making reference to similar increments by other public tertiary institutions in the country, WYSN described such policies as “anti-poor, anti-students and anti-people” and an attack “on the Nigerian education sector” by the “Tinubu/APC-led federal government” which the group insisted “has continued to toe on the legacy of the Buhari/APC FG by adamantly refusing to fund education.”

“The news of the 500% increment in fees payable at the University of Lagos did not meet us as a shock. Over the past few days, we have had reports from several public tertiary institutions about how the managements have callously increased fees at an average of 250%. At the University of Abuja, students’ union leaders were unjustly rusticated for expressing their displeasure on the increment in the school fee which has been increased thrice within 5 years. We can also recall the mass action at the University of Benin where students took to the street to bemoan a similar case. The emergence of the Students’ Loan scheme is further evidence of even more future attacks on the Nigerian education sector. We considered it anti-poor, anti-students and anti-people policies. This is an attempt to take education away from children of the poor people.

“Education is a tool for national development as it helps to eradicate illiteracy and to prepare citizens for an active role in nation-building. Instead of prioritizing and making education available and easily assessed, the government of Nigeria is keeping education out of the reach of the poor people. Hence, we put all the blame on the doorstep of the Tinubu/APC-led federal government which has continued to toe on the legacy of the Buhari/APC FG by adamantly refusing to fund education. The refusal of the Federal Government to accede to the demands of the academic workers vis-à-vis the refusal to fund public education up to the 26% budgetary allocation recommended by UNESCO has strengthened the various university managements – their tools – to further impose hardship in the form of extravagant fees on the poor students to keep the institutions running,” the group stated.

WYSN therefore called on student unions, staff unions, well-meaning organizations, workers, parents and individuals to come together to “demand for free, quality and well-funded public education.”

The statement continued: “We call on the National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS), the National Association of University Students (NAUS), the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) and other staff unions to stand up to defend the right to publicly-funded education. We believe that with the present attacks on education, only a united action by students, workers and parents can push back the attacks.

“Hence, we call on the management of the University of Abuja to immediately desist and disembark on this journey. We call on the students of the University of Lagos to start organizing themselves in the form of public meetings and congresses to name a day for a lecture boycott and mass protest to demand the reversal of the astronomical fee, provision of free and adequate accommodation facilities, a halt to the student’s loan bill and adequate funding of public education. We also call on staff unions, well-meaning organizations and individuals to join in the demand for free, quality and well-funded public education.

“We believe that free, functional and quality education is possible and achievable under a well-planned socialist government. Nigeria is blessed with vast resources and human power to drive the economy. However, a system built on the basis of privatization and commercialization of the commanding heights of the economy cannot achieve all of these goals. All the attacks on the education and petroleum sectors will definitely drive down the living conditions of the people. With an unemployment rate of 40% in Nigeria and the attack on the living conditions of the people, you can only be sure of one thing – a rise in insecurity level!

“While we continue to demand better living conditions under this government, we must not believe that any solution provided will ultimately resolve the fundamental problems facing Nigeria. Students, Workers, and Youths must commence the process of building a mass-based political alternative armed with socialist ideas in order to enthrone a true working people government of the people. We of Workers and Youths Solidarity Network are ready to join, participate and give directions during such a movement.”