MAPoly Nigeria Limited
By
Kola Ibrahim

kmarx4live@yahoo.com

When the Ogun State Polytechnic was renamed after the philantrophist, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, not a few thought that the polytechnic will manifest people's yearnings for better educational system that is accessible to all upon which they massively voted the late politicians, but the body movement of the Ogun State government and the authorities of the polytechnic have thrown to the Atlantic ocean any illusion that the polytechnic was established for the commoners in the society.
 
According to the Vanguard newspapers of 15 January, 2008 "new intakes into the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, (MAPOLY) for the 2007/2008 academic session are refusing to take up their offer of admission as new students are to pay as much as N80, 000 for an Ordinary Diploma course. The Ogun State Government-owned polytechnic in recently announcing newly approved school fees said that acceptance fee alone would be N20,500 which is non-refundable." This perhaps state it all. Note, it is not as if the students are not admitted but they could not process the admission because of the madness in governance in this country. This means that the students will either go to roam the street for the next one year or forget about education completely! In a country where over seventy percent of the population are languishing in abject poverty, where workers are paid less than N11, 000 minimum wage, where thousands of pensioners are unpaid their poverty pension (save for the grandstanding of the Yar'Adua government on military pension to the already rich few like the senate president), where petty traders can hardly meet their daily needs; such increment is nothing short of brazen wickedness and criminal cum gross misgovernance. In a country where less than ten percent of the tertiary institution aged youth are in schools, such increment is nothing but an expression of irresponsibility within the capitalist polity of Nigeria. Charging over N20, 000 for "acceptance" fee in a country where government ought to be giving bursary to students and parents as incentive to encourage them to school shows high level of irresponsibility in governance. Nigerian (and definitely Ogun State) is one of the countries (or state) where there is the least enrolment in schools all over the world.
 
Ogun State is one of the few state in the south west that get huge billions as monthly revenue from the crude oil money, yet the state government could not fund the schools to standards. This has given opportunity to tertiary institutions' authorities to mismanage the meagre resources of their respective schools while blaming the problem on under funding by students and their poor parents. It should also be stated that aside the fact that fees are increased, as a result of the under funding, many of the schools are grossly lacking in basic facilities like laboratory, hostel facilities, enough classrooms, etc. all of which has made nonsense out of public tertiary education. The most ridiculous aspect of it all is that as more fees are charged so the facilities are degraded and the education value reduced. This goes to show that the no amount of fees charged can solve a single of the problems facing education in the country, it will only deprive tens of millions of youth basic education.
 
What is happening in Mapoly is not different from what is happening in other tertiary institutions in Ogun State. For instance, students of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) were asked some few weeks ago to prepare for a new regime of cut-throat, obnoxious fees ranging from about N70, 000 to around N200, 000, yet the university lacks basic amenities like hostel and teaching facilities. The basic argument of the university managment was that the university is grossly under funded by the state government. Also, students of Tai Solarin University of Education are being asked to pay up to N50, 000 as fees in a school that is lacking in basic facilities for even a college of education. The attacks on education in Ogun State are not limited to tertiary education alone. For instance, just recently, thousands of poor teachers were redeployed to far-away schools where there are no facilities such as potable water, accomodation, transport system, communication, etc for survival, yet the teachers are barely paid their poverty salaries as and when due. But it should be recalled that last year, the state government claimed to have budgeted 26 percent of the budget to education, yet it could hardly fund the schools. The reality is that the funds budgeted are only conduit pipes for looting the state resources. It is funny that the NANS JCC Ogun State that praised the Ogun State government to high heavens (after their hands have being oiled) then has not commented on the recent attacks on basic right of students to free, functional education.
 
What is happening in Mapoly and OOU is not strange, it is a reflection of the obnoxious, capitalist neoliberal ideology which prioritises the interests of the already rich fews in the society at the expense of the toiling millions such that the resources of the country rather than being used for the poeple are being looted by the ruling cabal and their business colleagues. Already, the Yar'Adua's government in collaboration with state government has resolved to commercialise education and hike fees in our schools. From UniOsun to Lautech to FUTO to Unilag to UI to ABU, fees are bieng increased. Yet, the resources of the country (running to hundreds of billions of dollars, aside the mineral and human resources) if judiciously used could fund free, functional and qualitative education at all levels without hindrance. Just recently, the Plateau State government, in an action that smack off high level of irresponsibility, closed down a just established Plateau State University on a flimsy excuse that the government cannot fund it, yet the same government award millions of salaries to public officers monthly. Just recently, the university received over N900 million from the Dariye loot while billions are being given to the state as excess crude oil fund aside the monthly  revenue, yet the state government claim it could not fund the school. This action has dislocated the lives of hundreds of students who do not know what next to do. this is after over N80, 000 has been extorted from them as fees in just three months of resumption! This show the gross lack of focus by our politicians in power.  If Nigeria can put over $50 billion in foreign account and the nation's economy didnot collapse, funding free education cannot be a probelm for the country. A genuine government that want to develop a nation must know that providing access to millions of youth in the educational system is sine qua non to development. But, it is unfortunate that Yar'Adua's budget for debt payment is more than the combined budget for education (less than 13 percent) and health while UNESCO recommend 26 percent for developing economies. Even, the billions being budgeted for national and state assembly members, federal and state officials running into billions of naira can provide some facilities in our schools but the government of th day under the tutelage of IMF/ World Bank will never do this.
 
The sell outs and treacherous elements under the guise of NANS are prepared not to see or hear any evil. Not a single statement, or press conference (not to menion organising mass action) has been issued or organised respectively by the NANS Zone D (south west). however, the recent activities, especially the press campaign of the MAPOLY students is commendable. it is also neccesary to build mass movement that will  oppose this policy on the campus, if the management and the government continu on this ruinous path. Nigerian students, the genuine students' organizations and activists must organise a genuine platform, in conjunction with labour movement, to resist these onslaught on education. Genuine students' activists must join other students in affected campuses to fight against the attack on education. If we allow this in one school it will spread like wild fire to other schools. For us in ERC, we shall not hesitate to join force with such organization. Free education is a right and not privilege.
 
 
Kola Ibrahim
Education Rights Campaign (ERC)
Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife