The Oyo State chapter of the Socialist Party of Nigeria has described Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration as a pro-capitalist government pervaded by deceit and propaganda to protect private interests.
This is contained in a statement signed by Comrade Ayodeji Adigun, State Secretary of the party and issued during a press conference in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The SPN rejected all pro-capitalist politicians and their political parties, noting that none can be trusted for adequate defence and protection of public interest.
SPN alleged that the welfare and living conditions of teachers in public schools remain appalling, despite all of the propaganda by Makinde’s government over prompt payment of salaries and pensions without the full implementation of minimum wage.
The group condemned the planned handover of Government College Ibadan, GCI to any group of individuals hiding under the GCI Old Boys Association and rejected any form of public-private partnership arrangement in the education sector that seeks to hand over the ownership of public schools to profiteers.
The statement reads in part; “A number of interventions, projects and programmes being carried out notably in the area of education, infrastructure, agriculture, security and workers and pensioners welfare have always been claimed as achievements by Engr Seyi Makinde-led government.
“Some of these interventions, projects and programmes were packaged as achievements in the area of education.
“We of the SPN would have joined in the celebration of some of these acclaimed interventions and projects regarding their importance to the education sector in the state had it been they are being driven by the philosophy which its fundamental motive is to genuinely reposition the education sector in the overall interest of the general public. Unfortunately, this is not the case!
“Instead, they were driven by the dubious motive of using all of these projects and interventions as a tool for propaganda, falsification and self-enrichment. Take, for instance, the so-called cancellation of the N3,000 and entrance examination fees imposed on secondary school students and students transiting from primary to secondary school respectively by the immediate past regime led by Senator Abiola Ajimobi in the state including the free distribution of six exercise books for primary and secondary school students in the state were branded as free education programmes.
“This is a huge falsification and misrepresentation! Although, we welcome the cancellation of N3,000 fee firstly on the ground that its introduction in the first instance was anti-people and unjust. Secondly, it is because it tends to bring a kind of temporary relief to the mass of poor parents of working-class background. However, we strongly believe that free education transcends a mere cancellation of N3,000 fees including the free distribution of six (6) exercise books per student.
“As far as we are concerned, free education entails so many things like the expansion and modernisation of physical infrastructure like classrooms, laboratories, library, sick-bed, including the provision of free meals, textbooks and possibly uniforms and bursary to students. Also central to the delivery of free and quality education are well-trained and competent teachers with the provision of impressive remuneration.
“To us in SPN, all of the propaganda, media noise and misconception built around the cancellation of N3,000 and the free supply of exercise books are just a mere grandstanding and populism deliberately aimed at deceiving the poor people to believe that the Makinde-led regime is different from the previous regimes.
“The plain truth is that there is no fundamental difference in terms of programme, economic approach and orientation between Engr Seyi Makinde-led government and the preceding governments including the discredited late Senator Ajimobi-led government.
“It must be recalled that the late Senator Abiola Ajimobi-led regime also reduced payable fees in all the tertiary schools in Oyo State by 50% within 100 days of the regime in the office and later increased it beyond the amount affordable by children from poor homes, as soon as the regime get stabilized, specifically in its second term in the office.
“It is in the light of this we strongly hold that the so-called 10% reduction in the school fee payable by students in Emmanuel Alayande College Of Education, Oyo and state College of Agriculture and Technology, Igboora by Engr Seyi Makinde-led government is just a mere gimmick as the recent slash to 80% in the Subvention to all the state-owned tertiary Institutions by the Engr Seyi Makinde-led government is an obvious indication that a possible hike in school fees in all of the state-owned tertiary Institutions is not something that can be ruled out in the coming period.
“Beyond the question of the propaganda is also to note that, the recent allegation of inflation of contract sum and favouritism around the procurement of the so-called two million exercise books for the 450,000 students in public primary and secondary schools in the state clearly showed that the so-called free supply of exercise books was primarily designed by the Seyi Makinde-led government for self-enrichment and stealing of public fund by a private individual.
“It is our opinion in SPN that instead of this ruinous approach of awarding the supply of exercise and textbooks to politicians and acolytes in government, the state government should have revived the old state-owned printing press which is currently in a serious state of neglect or set up a new one that will be owned by the state government under democratic control and management of the representatives of workers and the people.
“An open and transparent investment in the Oyo State-owned printing press will not only guarantee a sustainable yearly supply of free exercise books to the mass of students in the state but also help to provide a means of gainful employment opportunity to youths in the state.
“However, considering the terrible state of our public education both the cancellation of the N3, 000 and entrance examination fees including the free distribution of the exercise books is like scratching the problem at the surface.
“The state of the decadence in the education sector is so huge that most public schools in the state lack necessary facilities such as laboratories, libraries, computer facilities, adequate and properly-equipped classrooms, etc. This is despite the 200 projects which include, renovated 88 classrooms blocks, newly constructed 51 classrooms and 36 boreholes claimed to have been completed by Engr Seyi Makinde-led government in three years.
“It’s also important to note that the welfare and living conditions of teachers in public schools remain appalling.”
SPN said should Makinde be re-elected in the 2023 election, the chances that the situation will be very tough for the working class are high.
It said, “With the current huge debt profile of Oyo State which is around N200 billion now and the increasing decline in Federal allocation to the state, owing to the acclaimed subsidy payment, there is every likelihood in the coming period that the federal allocation to the state will be squarely dedicated to debt servicing and repayment.
“This means that the government given its pro-capitalist orientation will have no choice but to squarely depend on the aggressive imposition of taxes on the workers as a means of generating revenue for the state most of which will be devoted to the servicing and maintenance of the opulence and wasteful lifestyle of the pro-capitalist politicians and their acolytes.
“The introduction of the so-called N30,000 drilling permit fee by Engr Seyi Makinde-led government for any citizen willing to draw water through borehole drilling is a glimpse of what should be expected if Engr Seyi Makinde-led government is re-elected.
“Again the recent slash to 80% in the subvention for all the state-owned tertiary institutions in the state, delay in the payment of salary against the 25th of every month promised by Governor Seyi Makinde and planned handover of the Government College Ibadan, GCI to Wale Babalakin-led group of the Old Boys Association are clear indications that a tougher time awaits the mass of the working people in the state if Seyi Makinde secures re-election.
“SPN Rejects APC, ACCORD including other pro-capitalist parties and their politicians.
“Our decision to reject all of the pro-capitalist political parties and their politicians participating in the 2023 election in Oyo state is based on our conviction that none of them which include PDP, APC, ACCORD is capable of forming a government that will be able to satisfy the economic need and interest of the working people in the state. It is only a government of the workers and poor formed and run on the basis of socialist programmes that can guarantee adequate protection and defence of the interest of workers and the poor.
“It is in light of this reality we hereby call on workers both in the private and public sectors, market women and men, artisans, students, and unemployed youths to join us in SPN, particularly our effort to midwife a broader pro-working people political party with a wider organisation spread and socialist programmes towards an enthronement of a socialist government whose its formation will be primarily to bring a significant improvement to both the living and working condition of workers, youths and masses in the state!”
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