Leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Wednesday took a swipe at the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and the entire ruling class, accusing them of paying lip services to the sufferings of the people.
It also carpeted the Federal Government over its economic policies, saying it was indirectly promoting neo-liberal and neo-conservatism against the wishes of the people who elected them.
ASUU indirectly advocated for a new party structure which will promote the ideas and principles of welfarism, which they alleged, the current ruling class has failed woefully to deliver.
President of ASUU, Biodun Ogunyemi raised these grouse against the government during an interaction with the media at its National Headquarters located inside the University of Abuja.
Ogunyemi also argued that the Nigerian Constitution amplifies welfarism in Chapter 2 as fundamental objectives and direct principles of state policy but noted that such has not been the case in Nigeria since the administration of Buhari.
He also accused its parent body the Nigeria Labour Congress of falling short of expectations in leading the struggle against the neo-liberal policies of government.
ASUU regretted the re-occurring decimal of anti-peoples policies, saying allowing the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to dictate Nigeria’s economy system, inflicts a lot of hardship on majority of Nigerians.
Neo-liberalism is regarded as a policy model or economic system that transfers control of economic factors to the private sector from the public sector. It takes its root from the belief which suggests that governments must limit subsidies.
The union held its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at Moddibo Adama University of Technology (MAUTECH) on 26th-27th of March where it reviewed the state of affairs in the country.
“ASUU has had several cause to draw the attention of the Nigerian people to the need to understand the nature of the basic problems facing the people of Nigeria.
“Since the 1980s our union has together with the labour movement, cried out that the most crucial problems facing Nigerians are hunger, chronic unemployment, poverty, disease and absence of social welfare.
“These are products of the inability of the rulers to deliver policies that are pro-people. Our union still maintains that democracy is not equivalent to elections, the impoverished idea that democracy is competition for votes cannot explain why the majority of Nigerians are experiencing so much hardship, joblessness, hunger, stagnant medical care, insecurity of life even after the 2015 elections.
“The serious obstacle to democracy is not the people of Nigeria, the biggest obstacle is Nigeria’s ruling class. Since 1970s that class has caused economic, political and social crisis for the people of this country. It ruled Nigeria as agents of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank whose main economic doctrines are privatization of the economy, social welfare (education, medical care, and transport) led by the Bretton Woods institutions.
“They have conditioned the people to expect falsely, that poverty, hunger, disease, will be seriously wiped out after elections, the people have witnessed neither welfare nor democracy,” ASUU said in its address.
The academic union noted that it was time for the Nigeria Labour Movement to lead the struggle on behalf of the people of Nigeria to reject both neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism and embark upon a people’s socialist construction.
Ogunyemi said,” Our position is that no ruling class party can deliver the fundamental objectives of the Nigerian state. A people’s party, party of workers, farmers, students, professionals, intellectuals, unemployed Nigerians is needed to organise resistance to neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism”.
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