Nigeria: DSM solidarise with great Ife workers

DSM Solidarise with Great Ife Workers

For a United, Mass Action to Defeat Management and Capitalism

The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) hereby solidarise with workers in Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife in their current struggle to end illegal deduction from their salaries by the Prof. Michael Faborode-led university management running to over N400 million. We commend the workers’ resoluteness to struggle against this illegal deduction and enjoin them to go all the way to the struggle to its logical conclusion.

Furthermore, we in DSM commend the collective actions of all workers in the university. This example of joint struggle is highly commendable. We consequently, call on the in-house unions to maintain this collaboration as a permanent platform to fight collective struggles and to give solidarity to one another when any union is undertaking any struggle. This collective effort will give the workers the needed strength to be victorious. We enjoin the national leadership of each of these unions to also take this method of joint struggle to fight government’s attack on education, through chronic under funding.

Furthermore, we enjoin the great Ife workers not to limit this struggle to sit-at-home strike alone but to organize pickets and rallies as its being done now to counter any attempt by the management to break the strike. We call for daily monitoring of the strike by an elected Strike Committee while rallies and protest marches should be organised at least twice a week so as to keep workers together. Moreover, massive press campaign should be organised to all major press houses to inform the general public; and to serve as a good example to other workers in other institutions. The joint unions must also issue out educative materials including leaflets and posters.

The struggle is justified
It will be recalled that the workers through their unions – ASUU, SSANU, NASU and NAAT – had protested for several months, illegal deduction of contributory pension from their salaries when same are being deducted by the federal government from the source. It was also discovered that the deducted pension fund was no where to be found in the university account neither was it officially deposited with any PFA (Pension Fund Administrator) as workers did not ask the management to deduct the pension in the first place.

To us in the DSM, the deduction from the meagre workers’ wages for a so-called pension scheme is a fraud in the first place. The Nigerian state has a fundamental duty to pay a living, adequate and timely pension to all workers. It is fraudulent to ask workers who spend thirty years serving the country to part with their salaries before getting better living after retirement while politicians who contribute nothing except looting the nation’s treachery are guaranteed live pension or severance package from the nation purse. Thus, OAU management’s illegal deduction is simply adding insult upon injury.

This also reflects what has been happening in the university financial state for the past years where monies gotten from various sources have never reflected in the living conditions of workers and students alike. While students’ hostels are in deplorable conditions and laboratories and workshops hardly working, the workers living conditions have also plummeted. Though, it is agreed that the university and indeed the education sector is grossly under funded by the anti-poor government at all levels, the reality is that the university management’s graft tendencies have contributed more to this grave situation.

Rather than for the Faborode-led management to stop the deduction and refund workers’ monies, it resulted to cheap argument and excuse by asking workers to go to Abuja to stop federal government from deducting their salaries. But the same management fail to tell the world when workers has it to deduct their salary for any pension. If government is illegally deducting workers’ salaries why must the management compound their woes but further deducting their salaries. It should be noted that this is not the first time the management in its anti-worker character will be deducting workers’ salaries.

Consequently, we support workers’ decision to embark on strike and also their petitioning of the anti-graft agencies to probe the university management. If the university management is sincere, it should open its account for scrutiny by an open probe committee comprising representatives of staff and student unions.

Based on the aforementioned, we join the workers in the university to demand among other things:
• immediate stoppage to the deduction and refund of all deducted monies.
• scrutiny of the university account by a probe committee comprising representatives of staff and student unions.
• N52,200 minimum wage for all workers without retrenchment.
• massive funding of education sector and provision of free and quality education at all levels.
• public ownership of commanding height of the nation’s wealth under workers and poor people’s control to provide needed fund to develop the country and provide better living for all.

Signed.

Alfred Adegoke Coordinator
Kola Ibrahim
Secretary