Fee Reduction wrote; This is the text of our press release circulated today. Please share: OOU FEE REDUCTION MOVEMENT (OFRM) PRESS RELEASE 22/07/2014 OUR BACKS ARE TO THE WALL “Truth is treason in an empire of lies.” “Cowardice asks the question, Is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? But conscience asks the question, is it right? There comes a time when we must take a decision that is neither safe, politic nor popular but one that conscience tells us is right.” – Martin Luther King Jr. WHO WE ARE We are a platform that sprang up as a result of government’s deliberate act of taking education beyond the reach of the poor. WHAT WE STAND FOR It is our belief that education should be the bedrock of any nation that aspires to greatness and that desires to rise above the tag of ‘third world nation’. We are convinced that contrary to the propaganda that is being spread around by government and its cronies, education can and should be made free from primary to tertiary level. We assert that it is irresponsible of any government that claims to care about the people, to take education beyond the reach of the youths. We stand solidly on the constitution that makes education free, quality and affordable for every citizen of this nation, irrespective of tribe, religion or political affiliation. WHERE WE ARE COMING FROM The first instance of a government giving free education to its people was initiated by an indigene of Ogun state, in person of the late Pa Obafemi Awolowo. Decades after his death however, it is a monumental disgrace that the main university in the state , Olabisi Onabanjo University that is supposed to be a beacon of hope to all and sundry has been turned into a private enterprise and has become unaffordable. Compared to other institutions even in the south-west, fees paid in OOU are embarrassingly high. WHERE WE ARE Last year, students of this great institution were forced to have a faceoff with the university management in an attempt to stop the loss of studentship of more than 5000 students who defaulted in the payment of their fees due to the astronomical amount; it was a move that saw government in its typical fashion roll out its instruments of repression and attacked the students who were embarking on a peaceful protest. Some of the student leaders were arrested while the university and the entire town was militarised. Students were threatened and forced to write exams at gun point. WHERE WE ARE GOING As things stand, another faceoff is imminent! For the past one month, students have been clamouring for a reduction in the fees being paid. They have spoken to the press, they have taken their agitations to the social media, they have spoken to the Students Union representatives, they have on many instances appealed to the both the university management and the state government to effect a reduction in the fees, but all these acts have been efforts in futility; both the university management and the state government have turned deaf ears to our plea. At this point, it is germane to call on the Students Union (both CEC & SHS) not to betray the trust that students have reposed in them and not to make a mockery of the goodwill they have enjoyed on the part of the students thus far. We understand that while the Union President was rumoured to have asked the students to pay the fees, the P.R.O also posted something similar using his Facebook profile, while internal power tussles and political interests have stopped the Union from having one voice on the issue. It is also depressing that the Committee for the defence of Human Rights (Cdhr Oou ) here in OOU has been criminally silent on this issue; they have only made noises, they have failed to act. More depressing is the fact that the CDHR coordinator, Comrade JAMES OGUNJIMI was known to be a fierce critic of OBAMA and OMOJAYs regime has refused to talk now because the current SUG President and Deputy Senate are his friends. CDHR and Comrade James must wake up, stop sitting on the fence and unite with us and other pressure groups to achieve victory. As a last resort, we are giving the SHS an ultimatum to convene its 5th business sitting before the end of this week or latest by Monday 28th July 2014 to enable them discuss the reduction issue extensively on the floor of the house. We call on the SHS to immediately order the Union President to instruct students to stop the payment of the fees until the issue has been resolved. We warn the leadership of the house: the Senate President, the Deputy Senate President (in particular), the Chief Whip, the Clerk, and all the constituency leaders that our students are watching them to see if they will play the historic roles that posterity has called on them to play. Failure to convene the business meeting and instruct the President to stop the payment of the fees will amount to a wave of uprisings in the school. Beginning from Tuesday 29th July, we will not hesitate to unite with other concerned bodies and pressure groups on campus like CDHR to stage, not just fee reduction protests, but anti-union (CEC & SHS) protests. We call on the President to also convene a General Assembly before the expiration of this week for students to make their grievances known and for them to collectively tell their student leaders which way to go. Failure to convene the GA latest by Monday 28th July will see us unite with other concerned bodies and pressure groups like CDHR beginning from Tuesday 29th July to call for the GA as guaranteed in the Students Union constitution. Let us remember LASU and understand that it was unity among the CEC, SHS, pressure groups and students that won them the struggle and proved right the saying that it is only a unity of the oppressed that can guarantee victory over the oppressor. Finally, we call on the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), OOU Chapter not to sit with folded arms while the state government makes education unaffordable. They should remember that part of their demands at the last industrial action they embarked upon was proper funding of the university. ASUU OOU should not forget the roles played by OOU students in ensuring victory in that struggle; students risked their lives to travel to Abeokuta and Lagos to solidarise with ASUU during the protests and ASUU must now not fold their hands in the time of the students’ need. ASUU OOU should remember that LASU students were able to win the struggle because of the huge support they enjoyed from the ASUU LASU Chapter all through. ASUU OOU Chapter must arise in this time of students’ need and play the role of parents, leaders, guiders and co-strugglers. We call on the entire student populace to begin to question their representatives at the level of the SHS on what they are doing. They should also constantly talk to their union representatives and remind them of why they are there, and that they are supposed to represent their interests. If after this week, the SHS fails to meet and fails to instruct the Union President to stop the payment of school fees, we are calling on all students to be prepared to turn on the Union and call for a General Assembly whose authority supersedes that of the CEC and the SHS and whose decision on any issue is final and binding on all and sundry to dissolve the Union (both CEC & SHS) for failure to correctly represent the students’ interest. If they fail to act this week, we will meet with other pressure groups on campus to harmonise our stand and convene a General Assembly. Finally, it was Latin American revolutionary, Ernesto Che Guevara that said, “There are no liberators; the people liberate themselves.” OOU Students should be prepared to come out in large numbers when the SUG decides to heed our cry. Students must realise that nobody is going to ‘fight’ your fight for you; you must come out to join your voice with the voices of others crying for a reduction. If we are called to come out for General Assembly, protest or even told to boycott lectures and stay at home and we don’t, then the fault will be ours and we will have only ourselves to blame if we fail to achieve the reduction. Let us inform our friends and course mates too to join and let them know the dangers of not joining. If we fail to act now, let us be rest assured that more anti-student policies will be introduced and we can be sure that come 2015, the fees will be jerked up even higher. Let us all come out to nip this ‘madness’ in the mud once and for all. Arise OOU Students; we have nothing to lose but our chains! Long Live OFRM! Long Live OOUSUG!! Long Live OOU!!! Signed: Tunji Radical Francis Ujama Convener Secretary NB: To follow our updates and let us know your mind, join us on Facebook by liking our page: OOU Fee Reduction Movement – OFRM Please spread the information, help make photocopies and share.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 17:12:19 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015