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May 31, 2006

The National Conscience Party (NCP) Oyo State Chapter condemns the plan of the Alao Akala led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government of Oyo State to privatise some primary and secondary schools in Oyo State under the pretext of returning them to their former missionary and private owners.

It is instructive to note that government adequately compensated these private individuals and bodies with public funds while taking over the schools in the 1970s. Thus, returning these schools is gifting public properties to few individuals at the expense of the poor masses.

This anti-poor agenda is an attempt by the state government to further abdicate its constitutional and social responsibility of adequately funding the educational sector in particular and all other sectors in general. It is in line with anti-poor capitalist neo-liberal policies of privatisation and commercialisation of education and other social services being implemented by all pro-capitalist parties (PDP, AD, ANPP and APGA) in power at different levels of government.

The effect of this vexatious policy to poor students, parents and education workers will be highly catastrophic. When similar exercise was carried out in Lagos state some years ago, all it succeeded in achieving was to further degenerate the already decaying standard of education and take education out of the reach of the children of the poor. A lot of teachers were laid off, school fees became exorbitant, and students that could not afford the new outrageous charges became dropouts, while the standard depreciated in the whole.

Rather than privatising schools, we demand that the Oyo State government should, as a matter of necessity, allocate adequate funds to the education sector. Such resources should be used, among other things, to improve the falling standard of education in the state by providing infrastructures and building new classrooms. The government is also expected to employ competent teachers with good remuneration, stock the libraries with modern accessories and facilities and promote better learning and teaching process.

Lastly, we call on the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS), National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS), Joint Campus Committee (JCC), Oyo State Axis, Parents Teachers Forum (PTF), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), Congress of Free Trade Union (CFTU) Oyo State and all other genuine change seeking groups and individuals to prevail on the government not to mortgage the future of this generation of Nigerian youths and generation yet unborn.

NCP says education must be made free and qualitative for all and sundry as against this satanic policies of the ruling party (PDP) government at all levels to commercialize and privatize the education sector, thereby, making education the exclusive rights of the children of the ruling elite. We say capital NO, hence, we shall mobilize mass resistance against this attempt.

If NCP is in power it would commit the huge resources of the society to the provision of not only quality education but also all other basic necessities of life viz. health, water, food, electricity, good road, decent jobs, etc.

Alayande Stephen T.

Publicity Secretary

NCP, Oyo State