For a genuine fightback against fees, cuts and privatisation

Socialist Students statement on national protest on February 25. Anyways, must dash as i'm off to speak at a meeting in Manchester later on.

With the review of funding for higher education taking place next year, it is urgent that a campaign is built mobilising students to defend their rights. Already Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have introduced university tuition and top-up fees, and they currently stand at up to £3,000 a year. University vice-chancellors, through their organisation Universities UK (UUK), are keen to see this raised in the 2009 review, and are attempting to push the government to allow universities to charge up to £6,000 or maybe even more. Students need to build a fightback against this possibility, which would have devastating effects for tens of thousands of young people. But we also need to fight against the idea that education is a commodity and should be paid for. Socialist Students has initiated the Campaign to Defeat Fees, which has organised the most successful action on campuses against fees recently, coordinating action in over 50 universities and colleges in highly successful days of action. The Campaign to Defeat Fees has a wide range of support, including leading figures from the trade union movement including John McDonnell and Tommy Sheridan, students unions and over 5,000 individuals.

Unfortunately, the National Union of Students (NUS) leadership has so far not been prepared to launch a serious challenge to the demands of UUK. The leadership of the NUS are politically at one with the government of Brown, and in reality wish to allow the New Labour government free reign, with as little trouble from angry students as possible. They have had a conscious policy of constantly downplaying any action, and of promoting the idea that students cannot win against fees, but should restrain themselves to asking for slight improvements. Instead of battling against fees and for students, the policy of the NUS leadership has been to concentrate on destroying democracy in the NUS in order to insulate themselves from the demands of students.

This raises the question of how can a fight against fees be built on a national level. Socialist Students, as well as being involved in the Campaign to Defeat Fees, has argued for an organisation that brings together those who are opposed to the attacks of the government and the strategy of defeat from the NUS leadership. This should aim to involve as many students as possible, and bring together those students unions involved in fighting back and campaigning, alongside activist groups and individuals. This organisation would have to be based on building coordinated action, of aiming to involve and convince as many students as possible to get involved in campaigning, and on general demands of opposition to fees, cuts and closures and for a better education system for all.

To ensure that this works, it would also have to be organised along democratic lines, guaranteeing representation for those involved and allowing individuals and groups to put forwards different ideas and different strategies. No group should be allowed to dominate and there must be democratic accountability of the steering committee.

Socialist Students is in favour of a serious strategy in the campaign against fees, which should definitely involve national mobilisations and demonstrations. However, a serious strategy should be based on an assessment of a number of factors at every stage. What is the mood amongst students? What level of support could be gained for a national demonstration? What forces are involved in building for the demonstration? What is students' perception and awareness of those forces? How widely can we publicise our action? How many do we estimate that we will be able to mobilise? Will it be seen to represent a step forwards for students in our battles?

Socialist Students has called for and raised the idea with thousands of students of a national demonstration against fees called by the National Union of Students. Given the wide recognition of the NUS, the huge resources that are available to it, the big potential for media coverage etc, this would be the best situation. It would also open the door for genuine anti-fees activists to campaign and build as big a mobilisation as possible. This is comparable, although on a smaller scale, to the NUS 'students in the red' day of action earlier this term, which although organised around very limited slogans, presented an opportunity for activists to build action and gain broader support for those protests. This was an opportunity seized by Socialist Students, although unfortunately ignored by the Socialist Worker Student Societies (SWSS).

However, given the failure of NUS to call action and the urgency of the issues, it is correct that activists do not just give up, and that we take initiatives of our own. The Campaign to Defeat Fees has organised several days of action to mobilise students, building from below rather than waiting for the 'official' structures. However, where we have called protests and initiatives we have ensured that they are properly planned and built for. SWSS has so far called three national demonstrations this term, none of which have had more than a few hundred in attendance. To call a 'national' initiative without the means to mobilise on a national scale can give the impression that there is less of a mood to fight than is the case. Such unilateral action does not strengthen the movement.

Socialist Students want the event on 25 February to be as strong and positive as possible. We think that the best way for this to happen is for activists and activist groups to build support and to mobilise for this protest. But with the limited resources of those involved so far, this protest may not fully show the extent of students' opposition to the raising of the cap and education commercialisation. Nevertheless, it could be a step towards the national mobilisation necessary for a truly national demonstration. Therefore Socialist Students proposes that the main slogan of the protest should be 'for a national demonstration against fees, cuts and privatisation'.

This protest should also be organised along democratic lines. The most democratic way to do this is to allow everyone to have their say and to contribute to discussions, but to prevent any one group taking over. The planning meeting that has been called on 14 December should elect a committee to organise the protest, based on guaranteeing representation for students unions, strands of opinion and campaigning groups relative to their size and weight in the student movement. Unfortunately so far this has not been the case, primarily through the approach of SWSS who have attempted to impose their will on others, firstly at the Another Education is Possible conference, and now more recently in unilaterally naming a date for a national demonstration against fees, on the 25 February. In fact, there is an argument that a date later in the spring may give more time to mobilise support. But debates and discussions like this show precisely why there needs to be a more democratic structure than is in operation at present. A more democratic structure would also aid the protest in ensuring the best balance of speakers at the protest and different views and ideas being heard and ensure that the follow up to a spring protest is properly prepared.

For this campaign to be successful, it cannot just be limited to one action. The best way to ensure that effective opposition to fees is built for an alliance to be built that offers a fighting strategy that will bring together student activists, and inspire others that they can play a role in the fight for free education.

Student Struggles In Africa

I've lost my USB strick with various pieces I'd written for the blog on it. However, I thougth i ought to post something in the meantime so there is selection of reports about student struggles in Africa

Burkina Faso

Tinette Schnatterer, who recently spoke to student activists in Burkina Faso, looks at developing mass protests and strikes in the impoverished West African country, which has one of the lowest GDP per capita incomes in the world and is ranked the 127th poorest nation.

Brutal police action against student strike
United action of protesting workers, students and poor needed!
Tinette Schnatterer, SAV (CWI in Germany)

After months of protests, 17 June saw university students in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, go on strike to increase pressure for more classrooms, higher grants and lower tuition fees. Studying conditions are catastrophic. The entire department for German Studies has to share two dictionaries and two computers. Over the last few days, another demand has been added by the students: the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the police from the university campus.
Police shoot at students
On 17 June, the biggest student union, ANEB, called a demonstration and a sit-in in front of the rector's office at the university. They wanted to force the administration to react, which until then tried to ignore the protests. But instead of negotiating with the students, the authorities called in the police. The police shot live bullets at the peaceful demonstration. It is reported that 62 students were arrested and many injured. One student told us: "A student has been shot in the leg. We thought we were in Darfur". Since then, the campus has been surrounded by the police, even though access to the campus by the police is prohibited by law.
Some of the arrested students had to be released because of a lack of evidence. Four students were sentenced to 6 months, released on probation, and fined 5,000 Franc CFA. They have been accused of 'damaging property' during the demonstration. Contrary to what has been reported in the media, the students only started to fight back when the police started to shoot at their demonstration.
During the court trial, which lasted 48 hours, hundreds of students waited in the overcrowded courtroom, and in front of the court buildings, to show their solidarity with their fellow students. This is why the court sentences were much less than that demanded by the prosecutor.
University principal shuts down the university
To underline that they will not be intimidated but will continue to struggle until their demands are carried out, students called another demonstration for 26 June. The University Administration reacted immediately and closed down the whole university. "For the moment, we shut down all the social services, particularly the hostels, the canteens and the health stations for the students", said Bibia Robert Sangaré, President of the National Centre of University Institutions.
This led to enormous problems for the striking students. Most of them have homes far away from the university, share a small room in student hostels and have no finances. The university administration is now trying to literally starve out the protesters. At the same time, a student told us:"The University Principal threatens us with the annulment of the term, they want to boycott our results and make us repeat the academic year."
Nevertheless, the students organised further protests. "The Campus is surrounded by the police. We have no possibility at all to get into contact with our rank and file members. But, on Monday, we will organise a big rally of all the students on the campus", said Adama Baguiyan, President of the General Alliance of the Students Burkina Faso (UGEB), the umbrella organisation to which the ANEB belongs.
Growing anger at neo-liberal policy
During the last months, there were growing protests in Burkina Faso, as in the whole region, against the effects of neo-liberal policies. Big demonstrations and strikes against rising food prices and against the EPA (Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU) shattered the country. The brutal police actions against the students show how much the government fears these protests.
Parallel to the student protests, workers in the health industry responded to a strike call from the Synsha trade union and went on a three day strike. To transform this widespread anger into effective resistance, the unions should organise, as the next step, a one day, country-wide, general strike of workers, students and the urban and rural poor. Also political representation, that does not look for an alliance with Western banks and big corporations, but unites resistance against capitalist globalisation internationally, is necessary. Capitalism demonstrates, daily, that profits of big corporations are more important to it than food and education for millions.
"Don't shoot, you can't kill ideas"
"Don't shoot, you can't kill ideas" - These were the words spoken by the former radical, anti-imperialist president, Thomas Sankara, one week before his assassination in a military coup in 1987. The growing enthusiasm for Sankara, especially among young people, is the expression of a search for alternatives. Despite repression, thousands participated in protests to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Sankara's assassination, last year. But, unfortunately, the tragic end of Sankara's four years rule showed that a complete break with capitalism is necessary to open the way to real liberation from imperialism and the first steps towards a socialist planned economy. These steps cannot be introduced from above, or simply by a chief of government. Only a revolutionary movement of workers, youth and peasants (in Burkina Faso, 80 % of the population work in agriculture) will be able to replace the dictatorship of profit with a society where the mass of the population democratically decide what to produce and how. The mass movement is key to succcess, and the example of Venezuela shows current these debates are today.

Nigeria

Education Rights Campaign
Pay Teachers Adequate Wages Now!
Press Statement by the Education Rights Campaign, Nigeria

The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) hereby condemns in strong terms the failure of the Yar'Adua and state governments to hearken to the demands of Nigerian teachers who are requesting for improved remuneration as contained in the Teachers Salary Scale. Also, we declare our total support of the teachers for improved living conditions. We enjoin the leadership of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) to lead the struggle to a logical conclusion that will ensure improved and adequate living wage for teachers.
It is ridiculous that the same government that claim to be committed to the human capacity development including education could wait until the teachers, most of whom are paid poverty wages, to embark on wage to improve their living standard. It is ridiculous that the government cannot recognize the link between teachers' living standards and educational development. According to a UNESCO report, Nigeria requires over 200, 000 teachers to bring to school over eight million children currently out of school, while more teachers are needed to provide quality education to Nigerian children based on international standard, but these numbers of teachers could not be got because teachers are poorly treated by the governments at all level. One would have expected the federal government to immediately concede to the demands of the teachers other than the present hide-and-seek game of the government. This again confirms our belief that the present government is not interested in the development of the country notwithstanding their grandstanding.
This is already confirmed in the manner the federal and state governments are handling the education sector. Currently across all tertiary institutions, fees are being hiked despite the fact that many students come from working class and poor peoples' backgrounds. Furthermore the federal budget for education is less than 8.3 percent while UNESCO recommended 26 percent for developing nations like Nigeria. This terrible trend of the federal government is being followed by several state governments. Those state governments which claim to be committing more than 20 percent to education only use education as a smokescreen to divert public fund for personal use. This is graphically manifested by the revelation on the looting of the UBE fund by state and federal UBEC officials.
All this has led to degeneration in the standard of education in the country from primary to tertiary level. While primary schools, save for a block of classrooms being constructed in few selected schools, are lacking basic facilities, secondary and most tertiary institutions are in rotten state. Currently while over a million students sat for the last UME examinations, a paltry 200, 000 will be admitted because the universities lack basic facilities to adsorb enough students. This is the crisis that government under funding of education and chronic mismanagement has caused to the education sector.
Therefore, for anybody interested in the revitalization of education, the current struggle of the teachers should be supported as a stepping stone towards forcing the government to properly fund education and pay adequate wages for education workers (and indeed other workers). While politicians in power collect millions of naira as salaries and allowances most teachers are paid less than the N10, 000 minimum wage. As against the excuse of the state and federal governments that they do not have fund to pay the new pay, politicians who are put in education boards and commissions like UBE boards and teaching service commissions are paid hundreds of thousands of naira as monthly pay. If truly the governments do not have the money, they should reduce the salaries of all political office holders to that of the teachers. The reason the government will not pay teachers, and indeed fund education properly, is because the government is committed to neo-liberal capitalist policies that tend to give public resources to big moneybag business and politicians.
Consequently, we of the ERC call on the leadership of the NUT not to compromise but to mobilize not only teachers but also the other oppressed people like other workers, the market women, artisans, youth and the unemployed for mass rallies, protest marches, picket and press campaign that will force the government within the shortest time to concede to the demands of teachers. Furthermore, we enjoin the NUT leadership to ensure that all categories of teachers – federal government-, state-employed and privately-employed teachers – are affected by the TSS. The current attempt of state governments to distance themselves from the issue should not be allowed.
The leadership of central labour unions – NLC and TUC – must not only support the teachers actively by declaring solidarity actions including strikes, protest marches, rallies, etc. but to also start a mass action for N30, 000 minimum wage. We also feel that NUT should join force with other staff and students' unions in the education sector to demand proper funding of education by at least 26 percent of the budget coupled with democratic management at all levels to include elected representatives of education workers' and students' unions.
For us in the ERC, we have declared July 16, 2008 as a National Day of Action to demand proper funding of education by at least 26 percent of the budget coupled with democratic management at all levels to include elected representatives of education workers' and students' unions; recall of all victimized workers' and students' activists (UNILORIN 49 lecturers, OAU 10, etc.) and end to the culture of victimization; reversal of hike in fees; proper and adequate remuneration of all education workers; among others. We call on students' and workers' activists, unions and civil society organizations to join us in this struggle which shall include mass rallies, protest marches and lecture boycotts across campuses, schools and communities. Once again we give our solidarity to teachers in their struggle for better wages.
Hassan Taiwo
NATIONAL COORDINATOR
Chinedu Bosah
NATIONAL SECRETARY

More Student Protests

This is taken from the Socialist Students website. After the recent occupations in protest, this is a sign that there is increasing militancy from students. However, it is only at a small stage at the moment, and significantly these are places where left student groups were already existant (the same goes for Sussex which has been quite active over the last few years).

Southampton students blockade university
Protest at student's union's exclusion from university court
4.30 pm 15/05/08

100 Southampton University students have marched through campus and are blockading a university court meeting.

The university has taken the decision to remove the Union President vote from the Vice Chancellor appointment panel.

Today the university court is meeting - the highest decision making body in the university with VC chancellors from other universities, local politicians and councillors and representatives from the University's investors including BAE systems and HSBC, in attendance.

The action started with a march across campus towards the meeting. Students have obstructed the meeting by holding a silent sit in which is blocking building entrances they are wearing gags saying "student's voice silenced".

Clare Blackwell from Southampton Socialist Students says "the occupation a few weeks ago at Manchester has boosted morale about what is possible if decisive action is taken. We are taking similar action today. We are asking why is it that fat cat multinationals like BAE systems, and HSBC, the bank that makes record profits from ripping off students, are allowed a voice in how the university is run but student representatives are not?

It is clear that the right wing management and their big business friends want to get away with cuts and privatisation in the university and are trying to remove the students union as a potential obstacle."

Southampton Socialist Students has a record of fighting fees, cuts and privatisation and standing up for students in Southampton. We organised a protest in February at the constituency office of John Denham the Universities and Skills minister on that drew students from across the south coast. Socialist Students is raising the need to mobilise students to defend the student's union voice but also to raise the need for the students union to build a fight back linking up with campus trade unions and students unions across the country in a mass campaign against fees, cuts and privatisation.

The Local Elections

This piece is from my column in the latest issue of Seren (our SU newspaper) - after writing it I realise I didn't discuss the BNP which I maybe should have - but I am writing an article for the next issue on them. People may also be interested to know that the Student Union passed a motion submitted by Socialist Students (well, me directly) which responded to recent stuff in the local press blaming students for housing problems around Bangor and also opposing cuts to local public services.

In case people haven’t noticed, it’s going to be local election time very soon. So I would suppose the question of the day is who to vote for? In Wales there are four main parties represented in the Assembly Government – Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru.
As for their records – successive Labour and Conservative governments scrapped student grants and introduced tuition fees – so if you have to work whilst you’re at university to support yourself or if you’re worrying about the huge amount of debt you’re going to get into by the end of university here’s who’s to blame.
As for the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru, although both have not governed from Westminster, both have been involved in coalition governments in the Assembly and have run several local councils. Both have been involved in making cuts to public services – which if students aren’t using at the moment – they certainly will be in the future. In Gwynedd where Plaid Cymru are in control of the council, they have, on the back of some funding cuts from the Assembly, drawn up plans to close 29 schools and merge or federalise many others – similar plans are being attempted to be put into effect by the Liberal Democrat controlled Cardiff Council. In Gwynedd, as well as withdrawing funding from Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery, the Plaid Cymru-led council are cutting 300 jobs and closing various other facilities.
So what have we? Four parties with very similar policies. I’m sure people have heard of voter apathy – surely if you’ve got four choices and you don’t want any of them you’re not going to vote. Indeed, this seems to be increasing, especially amongst younger people.
For the majority of the population, including many students, there is no party that represents them. Thus a new one needs to be created, resting on policies that the majority of the population want. Fundamentally for most students, the demand for free quality education is a must, with the provision of a living grant for all students to live off, rather than many students being forced into part-time work which research by NUS and the TUC (Trades Union Congress) has shown can lower grades by a whole classification. But alongside this should be the right to a decent job at the end of university, or as an alternative to university (obviously these probably wouldn’t be the same types of jobs), but they should have a guaranteed minimum wage that is above the poverty pay that the level is set at at the moment.
Linked to that needs to be opposition to the policies of privatisation which have devastated the National Health Service (NHS), particularly the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). What happens under PFI is that to keep public borrowing down, private companies are invited to raise the finance for new building projects and then lease the buildings back to the NHS. Not only do these companies reap huge profits by doing this, but they can also re-finance their original loan, as once the building is built because they have a guarantee from a government institution they are going to get the money back, they can borrow at a much reduced interest rate, making even more money. Add in that the NHS is locked into these deals for periods of upto 25 to 30 years when in some cases they may not need the buildings even 5 years into their life, and you have an NHS which is saddled with massive debts which means that other services have to be cut – the most common recently have been mental health and maternity services. And it isn’t just restricted to the NHS: schools, museums, courts, and other public facilities (even police stations) have been built under PFI.
Another issue that many young people and students are interested in is in opposing the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. These actions were justified as being part of a war on terrorism – but all they’ve been is attempts at plundering the resources of these countries – if anything they’ve destabilised these countries and increased terrorism in the world – both in these countries and abroad. Additionally, draconian legislation reducing civil liberties and various other measures have seen an increase in state terrorism. Removing civil liberties and invasions of other countries must be opposed. If they were really concerned, then the US and Britain wouldn’t have armed Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden in the first place.
I’m involved in a group that aims to create a party like this the Campaign for a New Workers Party (CNWP – see www.cnwp.org.uk). However, such a party needs to be created still and this doesn’t exactly tell you which party to vote for. I’d look at the election materials of candidates in these elections and see if any match up to what I’ve outlined above. If, as they probably will, they don’t match up then I’d argue that rather than ignore the elections, you should show your disapproval by spoiling your ballot paper. But more importantly get involved with campaigns that argue for things your in favour of, and help create the kind of party that is worth you voting for.

NUS Reforms Fall

If you're looking for todays actual post on female prisoners - and a very interesting one too - please look before. This piece here is breaking news!

Yes, the proposed NUS reforms that NUS has been pushing all year round have failed to get the required 2/3 majority for them to pass.

What does this mean?

As one Socialist Student member at the conference told me 'NUS is likely to implode'. Several student unions that had previously attempted to disaffiliate and had been stopped, or had been considering it have leant their weight to the governance review process. The process was being pushed mostly by 'independents' a combination or right-wingers and local student union bureaucrats (by bureaucrat i mean those whose main concern is the smooth functioning of a student union, rather than it's use as a campaigning body). Given that this project has now failed it is possible that many of these will try to disaffiliate from NUS.
The other problem is the nature of the vote - despite it falling a majority of votes cast were on the side of the current NUS ruling clique. This means that despite the apparent 'victory' this does not signify a turn towards the left of NUS, rather a defeat of the right (in a kind of opposite way to Chavez in last years December referendum). The left in NUS is currently divided, this vote doesn't change that either. The only way to build a viable left is to build it on the campuses in a campaigning manner, not through voting pacts at NUS Conference. This is why the conference called by Portsmouth Students Union for April 12th will be crucial.

Students and Politics

Becuase I've posted this piece up so quick, I think yesterdays article may not get a look in on international justice. I would very much like feedback on that article as I still have a write up to do on the subject. Thanks

This piece is a critical look at an article featured in last weeks Weekly Worker on Students and Politics see http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/708/drivenideas.html. I find that from time to time this paper produces some interesting articles, although I'm not keen on their politics of orientating themselves towards the existing left rather than the wider working class. I don't agree with quite a few bits underpinning the article, but some discussion of the questions it raises can be useful

The first thing I want to take issue with is his arguement that student politics is centred in 'old universities' and former polytechnics that have made themselves like the 'old universities'. He sees this as being due to large numbers arts/humanities and social science students.

This doesn't bear up to my experience at all, perhaps it might be analogous to 'traditional student politics' but not revolutionary student politics. Our student politics grows up around activists, true perhaps there is a skew towards the area's suggested above, but i think that is due to things I will discuss below, not an inherent feature of the only students who become political. In fact at both universities I've been at (University of Huddersfield and Bangor University are both quite different) we've had people from a range of degree areas including Music, Journalism, Chemistry, History, Psychology, Sociology, English, Languages, trainee Nurses, Marine Biology and even Buisness Studies.

Our politics as I mentioned grow up around activists, usually groups of a few or more people who will organise stalls, petioning, protests etc. These from the core of the group who usually attract other people around them. The more established a group, the more likely it is to have links with local colleges or local universities depending on where the group starts from. True it is easier to organise at university, but this is becuase of the existence of large student unions, freshers fayre, and the ability to get easy funding for your society. But it a society iether won;t exist or go anywhere without activists.

I do agree with the article that events politicise students, ideas are important.. but they are certainly not the only factor as I shall explain. Ideas always have a larger impact on young people becuase generally speaking they are more open to our ideas. And suprise, suprise many students are young people.

Ideas however, in my opinion, seem to be more of a driving force for more middle class layers of students (or perhaps it may be becuase it's the only driving force for them whereas in others layers of students it is one of several). But there is a contradictory nature to students class position. They are drawn from across the various layers in society. Of course the children of the rich go to university, many students are from middle class background and there a sizeable number from a working class background (like me!). I wouldn't want to speculate on the proportions of each, but i'd say that those from a working class background are sizeable and the same from a middle class background.

I would say generally, that the rich students won't be interested, middle class students are interested from an ideological point of view and thus are somewhat unreliable - they turn up to whatever they fancy - whereas working class students have some real bad material obsticles to get over. The biggest one is usually having to work either whilst at uni (like me) or over the summer (like me again!). Then you've got the overpriced and crap accomodation, cuts (which disproportinately affect poorer students as they can't afford to do extra activities or restarting their degree etc. to overcome this) and so on.

I would argue that it is possible to build struggles in response to students material cirumstances - their have been campaigns against cuts, against cuts to halls of residence or their privatisation, and although the fight against fees at the moment hasn't been that big (due to the pernacious role of NUS), it's important to remember that fees were scrapped once before.

Because of the contradictory class nature of students as a whole, they are undoubtedly influenced by workers moving into struggle - the highpoint of the students movement doesn't coincide with the high point of working class struggles in this country for no reason whatsoever.

Although I don't think the article is particularly good, what it tries to discuss is an important question in terms of how we develop a fighting students movement, that is of a sound theoretical base from which to organise from.

Student Union Funding

This was a short piece that I wrote for last weeks feature article on universities in the Socialist but didn't get published. I published it here, as it discusses issues quite pertinent to the role of students unions.

Over the last few years many Student Unions have held disaffiliation ballots with the argument that the affiliation fees better spent on NUS could be better used on other things, in particular Student Union Sports Clubs and Societies. Most Unions get their money through a block grant usually paid termly from the University to which it represents Students in. As NUS’ own briefing on block grants explains, block grants were introduced in 1981 “to give colleges more control over the affairs of students’ unions”. Prior to this students unions had been given payments directly by the Local Education Authority (who most students get their loans from today) of their student members.
The block grant system gives a university or college a large amount of influence over how a Student Union operates by holding the control over its funding. In addition to this several Student Unions staff (including sabbaticals) are employed directly by the University rather than the Student Union, similarly many Student Union buildings are owned by the University and then leased back to the Union.
All of this means there are a million ties between Student Union officials and University chiefs, which explains many a union bureaucrats run in fear of militant campaigning, especially ones over issues like course cuts which will ruin their cosy relationship with the University.

Student elections: Not just a 'beauty contest'!

Here's a piece I worte for last weeks The Socialist. Not sure who it's of interest to, but I would like to get more studetn visitors and I think it's a decent article

Students can't go anywhere in February and March without being bombarded by people handing out leaflets, with 'Vote for Robbo' or 'Sharon for Pres' on their t-shirts, not to mention the odd person dressed as a furry animal.


Yes, it's student elections time. This is a time for student union people to crawl out of their hiding places and attempt to talk to students. Desperate for votes, they try everything from free sweets to outright harassment!

Nonetheless most students don't bother to vote at this stage. Why should they? Many candidates don't talk about the real issues such as tuition fees, rip-off accommodation and course cuts.

Instead manifestos typically consist of pledges to be fair and to listen. But in my experience they all say that and nothing changes.

For Socialist Students, elections are not only an opportunity to challenge for leadership of student unions. We contrast our ideas to those of the right wing and build support for our campaigns.

Our approach is different to that of the careerists who often run student unions. Our manifestos put forward demands that address the real needs of students, emphasising the fight for free education as well as important local issues.

The most important thing for us is to explain our ideas and put forward a strategy for building a student movement which can defend education from cuts and privatisation.

Elections can mean there is an increase in students thinking about how the student unions are run and, on the basis of our leaflets and posters explaining what we stand for, some students will campaign with Socialist Students. We can also put pressure on the union to campaign more when they see our support.

Canvassing halls of residence can be quite scary at first, but it gives you an opportunity to discuss issues with students where they feel comfortable. Holding a public meeting on your main campaign can be useful too.

Make sure the meeting is advertised on your election materials. Hustings or candidate question times are an opportunity to challenge other candidates' ideas.

Bangor Socialist Students Fight Student Union 'Governance Review'

Some more reports, and the text of a leaflet from Bangor.

Monday 28th January saw a new chapter in the history of Bangor Student Union.
Iain Dalton (Bangor Socialist Party)
A new constitution was passed which will see the Student Union transformed more in the direction of a commercialised charity rather than a campaigning trade union equivalent for students. This mirrors the changes taking place in NUS at the present time.
The Student Union officials suggested that the new constitution was needed to allow more participation in the student union. Socialist Students in Bangor attempted to mobilise a 'no' vote against the introduction of the new constitution, arguing that the problems within the student union aren't structural but political, it is the lack of mass campaigning action on issues like fees, student debt, course cuts and poor student accomodation that turns students away from engaging with Student Unions.
The consultation period for the new constitution was during students exam periods which as well as reducing the number of students who knew about it also made it difficult to organise a campaign against it because all us Socialist Student members had exams or coursework too.In spite of this we organise a stall and canvassing of some halls of residences. An emergency general meeting was called to pass the motion, where the majority of attendees are from union societies, sports clubs and committees who have to be there or face their accounts been frozen, and despite this the union only just got enough people there for the meeting to go ahead. In addition to their speech in favour of the constitution, the Student Union executive were also allowed to make a twenty minute presentation in favour of the governance review too. In light of these factors, Socialist Students feel delighted that 22 students decided to support our campaign against the constitution (which was three times as many members as we had at the meeting).
Although the new constitution means developing a mass campaign through student union structures is shut off for the present period, we will use our support here to continue to build the campaign to defeat fees which several students have been interested in finding out more about over the last few weeks.

Leaflet Text


For a Democratic Students Union not 'governance'A Further Statement on the Governance Review
There is currently a crisis of student involvement with Student Unions and NUS. Students Have suffered a period of defeats over the last ten or so years. Attacks on the conditions of students have included the end of grants for students, the introduction of tuition fees and then top-up fees. More students are having to work as well as studying and moves towards universities as businesses closing or cutting courses because they are not seen as ‘profitable’.
We agree with the Student Union that change is needed, but we do not think the Governance Review is the change that is needed. Rather we think it will worsen the situation for various reasons which we shall explain below.

Is it Possible to Split Financial and Political Matters?

One of the main changes proposed by the governance review is the separation of the governance of the Students Union into two halves, a financial one (the board) and a political one (the senate). The board is to be made up of trustees, some of whom may not be students. Socialist Students is opposed to any non-students having a vote in the running of the students union. The senate is supposed to be a newer, more dynamic replacement for the executive and council with a range of new committees reporting to it.
There are several reasons to be concerned about these proposals though. Firstly, just because a new structure has been created doesn’t automatically mean that students will step forward to fill up these structures.
Secondly, we would contest the assertion that financial and political matters of the union should be separate, the funding allocated to various areas of union activity is a political decision. What would happen if, for example, the senate decided to campaign on an issue, but the board decided it was financially beyond the means of the student union, would this mean the campaign would be scrapped? Or would a fundraising drive be launched to meet the estimated gap? This is a political decision, but could easily be vetoed by the board on 'apolitical' grounds, or face delays before the next senate to discuss its viability. It's not that difficult to imagine things bouncing between senate and board for up to a year, whilst valuable campaigning time is lost.

Charity or Union?

Entangled in this process is the whole question of the 2006 Charities Act. The only change that the Charities Act forces on Student Unions is to register as a charity in their own right, rather than deriving charitable status from their University. We do not have to change our structure or anything else under the act. Rather the suggestion for students unions to change their structure has come down from the NUS Executive, the new structure being proposed is based on the structure NUS is in the process of adopting. NUS are even running sessions for Student Union officers where they are trying to push this structure.
This structure runs hand in hand with NUS’ education funding strategy which proposes NUS’ campaigning should be based around the failed tactic of lobbying the government, this is the tactic that saw top-up fees be put in place and missed the opportunity for a mass demonstration outside. In reality NUS is moving towards becoming a commercialised charity that attempts to mitigate bad government policy affecting students, rather than a campaigning organisation fighting for improvements in the conditions of students. This is why Socialist Students argues that NUS and Student Unions should be organised like campaigning, democratic trade unions rather than commercialised charities.

Engaging Students

Part and parcel of a democratic, campaigning organisation is the mass involvement of its membership. At present this certainly does not happen with the Students Union. The main reason why General Meetings remain quorate is that standing committees, societies and sports clubs have to send people there to avoid losing funding from the Students Union, and when they’re there they can’t wait to leave. It isn’t that students are apathetic, many do care about many things, but that Student Unions are apathetic towards students. Bangor Students Union currently does not carry out mass campaigns reflecting the needs of students. Such campaigns would be on issues such as fees, course cuts and living conditions and would get a response from students.
The lack of engagement with students can be seen from consultation process. Although the student union has held quite a few consultation meetings, and sent an e-mail to all students this is far from enough. Student Union officers have been working on these proposals for 18 months now, why has it taken until January 2008 to involve ordinary students? Socialist Students argue that a genuine consultation would not have been held during an exam period, and would have been much better advertised with posters around campus and articles in Seren for example as well as involving student union representatives going and explaining these issues to students in halls of residences and by conducting stalls.

For A Democratic, Campaigning Students Union

To engage students a democratic, campaigning union is needed that will fight for the interests of students is needed. This will not happen overnight but steps can be taken by the Student Union to move towards this.
A matter of urgency is the currently non-functioning Camapigns sub-committee of the Students Union, this must be rebuilt with a mandate to build a mass campaign on issues like fees, student debt and the need for free education. As a step towards this Socialist Students have been contacting other campaigning and political students societies about forming a campaigns collective to collaborate with each other on our own campaigns as well as creating the potential to organise campaigns on other issues that affecting students.
Of course, the mass of students should be involved in deciding the campaigning priorities of the students union. This is why Socialist Students is calling on the Students Union to organise a general meeting that is well publicised and built for across campus, that any student or group can make proposals in the form of motions for campaigns to this meeting which are then voted on mandating the student union to run those campaigns.

• Stop the governance review – keep the current governance structure

• Halt the current consultation – for a full consultation which consists of many well advertised, built for meetings and held outside of exam periods

• Launch a local campaign (and push for a national campaign) against fees and for grants, support the Campaign to Defeat Fees Day of Action on the 21st February (contact us for more info on this)

• Support the formation of a Campaigns Collective to promote the work of campaigning student societies

Contact us at socialiststudents@undeb.bangor.ac.uk

Nigeria, the struggle goes on

Here's a piece i've written for our su paper on the solidarity campaign with nigeria students, btw. if you click the link at the bottom theres a new piece up by some nigerian comrades who were also active at the student union in Nigeria in the past

Over the last few months, Bangor University Socialist Students society have been campaigned in defence of three arrested student union leaders in Nigeria; Akinola Saburi, Olatunde Dairo & Taiwo Hassan Soweto. Their crime? To stand up for the rights of students.
The saga began around this time last year when the three participated at various times in student agitation for a week long period free of lectures before exams. Revision time for exams is something that most people would find uncontroversial, but not the authorities at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Instead they decided to ignore the students demands and shut down campus twice for several months claiming concern for a breakdown in law and order as well as standing their own slate of stooges for the student union elections, which were overwhelmingly defeated by genuine activists.
It is at this point that the university authorities tried this latest ploy. In August Akinola Saburi, the president of the student union at OAU, was arrested without being charged. Some months later, whilst campaigning for his release, the other two students were arrested. They were later charged with ludicrous offences such as the attempted murder of a former University Vice-Chancellor in 2004.
The students spent months applying for bail and after much prevarication by the courts were granted it, but with conditions which are impossible for them to meet including large sums of money. They were forced to spend Christmas and the New Year languishing in their cells.
Is their situation that different from our own? Last year the university implemented cuts to the Ocean Sciences department that are still affecting students now without any real consultation. True, none of our students have been arrested on made-up charges, but then there was no mass campaign involving thousands of students at a time like there has been in Nigeria.
Students around the world should support each others campaigns for better living and studying conditions. We are still appealing for protest letters to be sent and as well as asking for donations towards the defence campaign for these student leaders. For details see www.socialistnigeria.ord/students

To find out more and how you can get involved in the campaign, contact us at socialiststudents@undeb.bangor.ac.uk

Socialist Students Statement on Student Union Reform

Reform, What Reform?

Currently, Bangor University Students Union is in the process of conducting a consultation period on a review of the Student Union’s Constitution. This is being done, we are told, because we haven’t had a thorough revision for a while and because of changes to charity law. We are also told that it is necessary to make it easier for ordinary students to get things done. Socialist Students supports the idea of involving more students in the activities of the Students Union, and recognise the need to revise constitutions to enable this as well as revisions caused by legal changes.
However, such important decisions deserve an ample amount of time whereby as many students as possible can input into the process. Furthermore, we should have full proposals for any consultation and the right to put forward amendments or alternatives to be voted on by a full general meeting. We do not believe the current consultation exercise (during an exam period) meets this criteria.

Lessons of NUS Reform

At the present time the National Union of Students (NUS) is undergoing its own governance review. Similarly to Bangor, the review is being rushed through by NUS. Last month, an emergency conference was held to pass the changes before ratification at NUS national conference later this year. Its proponents argue that it will be more accessible to students and will be able to campaign better, but amongst its proposals includes the option for student unions to drop elections to NUS conference, as well as creating a new board to govern NUS including unelected persons who could veto any campaigns (due to ‘lack of funds’ etc.). Many students do not even know about this (although a pro-reform report was published in the last issue of Seren), and even less actually had any input into the process, particularly as most of the consultation for this was carried out during the summer, so much for involving more students!

For A Campaigning, Democratic Student Union

In a circular posted to the intranet, three ways are suggested of how students can use the union. Two of them are “starting a campaign” and “tackling a problem with your accommodation or course”. We agree that the way the student union is currently operating means it hasn’t been able to do either of these successfully, however, the failure is not to be found in the unions structures, rather in the political leadership of the students union.
As we have commented before in relation to the cuts in ocean sciences, students looked to the union for a campaigning leadership to oppose cuts and did not receive this. The effects of these cuts are still being felt (again see the last issue of Seren), and the question of how a more effective campaign could have been organised needs to be addressed.
This will be further compounded by the suggestion to enshrine ‘core campaigns’, a way of deciding a priori what issues will be most important to students during years ahead, decisions that should be made by the democratic bodies of the union.
The organisation of a campaigns collective, to promote activities of the various campaigning societies within the Students Union, as well as organising campaigning on issues that affect students, we think would be a massive step towards a Student Union that can campaign effectively on issues affecting students, as well as a means by which the student unions own campaigns committee could be rejuvenated. Of course, the mass of students should be involved in deciding the campaigning priorities of the students union. This is why Socialist Students is calling on the Students Union to organise a general meeting that is well publicised and built for across campus, that any student or group can make proposals in the form of motions for campaigns to this meeting with are then voted on mandating the student union to run those campaigns.


Stop the current review! For any consultation to feature a series of well publicised, built for meetings around all structures of the student union and allow a period when proposals can be made from any student or group. For all proposals to be democratically discussed and voted on at a general meeting
For a general meeting to be organised which is well publicised and built for across campus, that any student or group can make proposals in the form of motions for campaigns to this meeting with are then voted on mandating the student union to run those campaigns.
No attacks on democratic structures of the Students Union
For a campaigning fighting democratic students union that campaigns against fees, cuts and privatisation and for free publicly funded education as well as on other issues affecting students.

Crisis at OAU, Nigeria Continues - Release the Victimised Activists

OAU Ile Ife Crisis: DSM Members Arrested

Release Taiwo Hassan and Tunde Dairo Now!

Also Akinola Saburi!!

The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) strongly condemns the arrest of two of its members at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, today, Thursday October 11, by armed police at the behest of the management of the institution. The comrades are Taiwo Hassan Soweto, Secretary, DSM OAU Branch and Coordinator, Education Rights Campaign (ERC), and Olatunde Dairo, Public Relations Officer of Students Union, OAU Ile-Ife.

We demand their immediate and unconditional release

They were arrested after the authorities had unjustifiably closed down the campus and ordered students to vacate halls of residence as early as 7am.

The crime of the arrested student leaders is their leading role in the legitimate resolve of students to uphold their rights and interests.

The students of the university had on Tuesday October 9 held a massively attended Congress where they resolved that they would embark on a lecture boycott on Thursday and Friday October 17 and 18 to press home the demands for release from imprisonment of Akiola Saburi, President Students Union; hands off of student union by the university management and improved living and learning conditions on the campus.

Akinola Saburi has been unjustly incarcerated at the Ilesha Prison since August 1, 2007. Students also resolved to go to Osogbo on Monday October 15 to observe the court trial of Saburi which is due on that day.

The closure of the campus and arrest of the DSM members is attempt by the management to forestall the popular/mass action the students had planned for next week.

It will be recalled that the crisis started in the University late last year after students democratically elected a radical leadership, with Akinola Saburi as President and Olatunde Dairo as the PRO, defeating the sponsored candidates of the management. Students chose their leadership to ensure uncompromising defence of their rights and interests to quality university education. On the contrary, the management had wanted to impose a puppet leadership on the students in order to muzzle divergent views or opposition to their anti-poor neo-liberal policies.

We condemn highhandedness and arbitrariness which the Professor Michael Faborede led authorities have adopted as style of administration since their appointment last year. This is the second time the university has been closed down in less than one year for unjustifiable reason, besides the regular recourse using to armed police whenever students embark on legitimate action in defence of their rights and interests.

We call on Labour, teaching and non-teaching unions, human rights groups, pro-masses organisations and individuals locally and internationally to join us in the demands for the immediate and unconditional release of Taiwo Hassan, Tunde Dairo and Akinola Saburi, respect of rights to independent students’ unionism, improved learning and living conditions, immediate re-opening of the campus and end to culture of victimization in the university.

For more on the OAU Crisis http://www.socialistnigeria.org/page.php?article=1233 and http://www.socialistnigeria.org/page.php?article=1278

We also call for urgent protest letters be sent to:

- Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) at registra@oauife.edu.ng

- OAU Vice-Chancellor – mfaborode@yahoo.co.uk & mfaborod@oauife.edu.ng

- Nigerian Federal Ministry of Education at ehquiries@fme.gov.ng and te@fme.ng.

Please note that copies of all protest letters sent should be made available to the Democratic Socialist Movement (CWI, Nigeria) at dsmcentre@hotmail.com

Dagga Tolar

Publicity Secretary

DSM

NUS, HSBC and Facebook

One of many thing in the press in the UK at present is that NUS (the National Union of Students) has forced HSBC to scrap it's plans to charge graduates through a campaign set up on the online social network Facebook.

I find this interesting as back in March, as Socialist Students conference, Wes Streeting a Labour Students member and NUS VP Education was really promoting facebookas a campaigning tool for the future, whereas we argued for a mass campaign to defeat fees. Was Wes correct, and our kind of camapigning a thing of the past. Well no.

On the NUS website and Wes' NUS officer blog, he said

"There can be no doubt that using Facebook made the world of difference to our campaign. By setting up a group on a site that is incredibly popular with students, it enabled us to contact our members during the summer vacation far more easily than would otherwise have been possible. It also meant that we could involve our former members - the graduates who were going to be most affected by this policy.

“HSBC’s decision to reverse this policy is a victory for this NUS campaign and the individual action of students and graduates across the country. The fact that this U-turn has been forced is a testament to the role of unity and communication in empowering students and encouraging fair deals from student and graduate bank account providers.”

and

As a result we:

Set up a Facebook group which has now attracted around 4,000 members to oppose the move and visibly demonstrate our opposition – this group attracted press coverage throughout the media including BBC, Sky, The Guardian, The Times, The Express, The Daily Mail, The Independent, Channel 4 and The Scotsman. In recent days the press pressure has been mounting as a result of more than 200 people joining the group per day and interest in the planned stunt outside HSBC headquarters

Wrote to HSBC calling for a meeting to discuss their policy change

Examined the policies of all the other major student account providers and confirmed that they would not be following the precedent set by HSBC

Sent out an action briefing to students’ unions and asked unions to prepare for potential first term action

Planned a photo stunt involving student officers and activists from the Facebook group outside HSBC headquarters to generate more media coverage

Now to be fair, this is much better campaigning work than NUS has done on fees, especially I would say the fact that they were actually trying to get local student unions to do something. Please note however, that the only concrete activity that NUS had organised was a photo stunt to get press coverage.

However, in the Guardian Money supplement this Saturday, mention is made of students on the facebook groups organising protests at HSBC banks across the country

It is understood that apparently spontaneous, but secretly planned, demonstrations could have gridlocked HSBC branches across the country. Students intended to turn up in large numbers at HSBC city centre branches in university towns, forming long queues at cash and enquiry desks, each asking the same questions about how their account would be hit and how they could move overdrafts elsewhere

The idea was to block branches with a peaceful protest next Tuesday lunchtime - at the same time as the National Union of Students (NUS) planned a demonstration outside HSBC's Canary Wharf headquarters.

This apparently was suggested by a postgraduate from Leeds. I'd suggest it was this that made HSBC change their mind rather than Facebook. For me it shows the importance of mass campaigns where all students (or workers) can take part and contribute to it.

Another comrade has recerntly blogged about online activism as well,

http://nation-of-duncan.blogspot.com/2007/08/activism-online.html

Attacks on Nigerian Students Union

23 August 2007

OAU CRISIS
ATTACKS ON UNION GETS FIERCER
Akinola Saburi (President, Students' Union) Arrested, Union Proscribed!
"Students' unionism in the University had been proscribed until further notice. In its place…the University had approved the constitution of a STUDENTS' TRANSITION COMMITTEES that would be made up of the leadership of students' associations at the departmental and faculty levels" (emphasis ours).

"Students who had been indicted for various cases of misdemeanour had, however, been banned from the halls of residence. … …any of such students who had rooms allocated to him previously should consider such revoked"

"…Ogunruku warned returning students against "squatting" stressing that the practice had been banned. Students found harbouring squatters, the registrar added, would forfeit their allocations."

(Extracts of a Press Release published in Tuesday 21st, August, 2007 issue of The Punch newspaper revealing what fate awaits OAU students and Union leaders upon resumption by August 26, 2007)

If there has ever been such period in our history, the past ten months have, indeed, been very trying for the Students' Union, activists and generality of students of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ife. The reason is the avalanche of vicious attacks, frame ups and victimization launched by the management of the Institution against the right of students to independent unionism. In an earlier outcry titled "OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY CRISIS: After Banning of the Students Union, Authorities Set to Victimize Student Leaders; Appeal for Solidarity Protest Letters" (http://www.socialistnigeria.org/page.php?article=1233) we had explained the background of the crisis as rooted in the defeat of the efforts of the Vice Chancellor Prof. Faborode-led management to impose their lackeys into the leadership of students by interfering in the Students' Union elections. How the mass of students defeated this move and voted massively for the left bloc constituted by the Democratic Socialist Movement (CWI, Nigeria) and other organisations. Ever since, the University Management had resolved to use any means necessary to crush the OAU Students' Union.

We also pointed out how the management had, in search of any excuse to pick on the Union, refused to grant students' legitimate demand for observance of the regulations of the statute of the University that, before examinations, a week devoid of lectures and other academic activities must be set aside for students to revise for examinations. When students protested peacefully against this arbitrariness, the management closed down the campus on February 28, 2007. Then, a month after the closure, members of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) struck nationally for three months over refusal of the Federal government to fulfil some agreements reached in 2001 on staff welfare, reinstatement of 44 victimized lecturers in Unilorin and better funding of education. Four months after, when ASUU had called off their strike action, the campus was opened for the Harmatan Semester examination.

The current crisis where the President of the Students' Union has been unjustly and illegally detained at Ilesha and other union leaders declared wanted is an offshoot of these earlier attacks. During the period of the closure, the management had declared the Students' Union banned while attempts were made to victimize about seven Union leaders, three of whom are members of Democratic Socialist Movement (CWI, Nigeria). This was effectively resisted by a Court order of the Federal High Court in Osogbo, which granted the seven Union leaders an injunction putting on hold the undemocratic disciplinary panel set up by the management to witch hunt them. Also, the President of the Students' Union, Akinola Saburi, who had been earlier expelled from the University after the Students' Union elections, approached the court of law during the closure and was also granted leave to exercise his fundamental human rights which includes right to free movement, association and expression without harassment. On the basis of this court order, Akinola Saburi came to onto campus after re-opening to take charge of his official responsibility as the head of the Union.

However, the Management felt intimidated by the popular and enthusiastic welcome he received from the mass of students and they therefore swore to get him out of campus at all cost. They themselves understood the implication of his coming and the enthusiastic welcome he received as a bold rejection of the ban of the Union. After repeated attempts to kidnap him on campus with the aid of the University rag-tag fascist force tagged "Crackers" (a security team comprising members of local militias of community where the University is situated) were defeated by the mass of students, Akinola Saburi was eventually ambushed and arrested on 31st, July 2007 by men of the State Security Service(SSS) at the premises of the Federal High Court, Osogbo where he had gone to file some applications for the pursuit of his legal case against his unjust dismissal.

In order to give quasi-legal justifications for this arrest, which totally contravene the earlier order of a Federal High Court, Osogbo in Saburi, was arraigned before a Magistrate Court (a lower court) the next morning (1st, August 2007) on a 10-count charge. It must be noted that in Nigeria, as in all nations claiming democracy, the Constitution clearly specifies ways and manners the law can be enforced without violating people's fundamental human rights. These are eloquently stated in sections 35 and 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. However, in gross violations of these sections of the constitution, Akinola Saburi was arraigned without being informed of the details of the allegations against him nor was he allowed to contact his lawyers. Instead, a certain lawyer was arranged to stand in his defence without his consent. Not surprisingly therefore, the court did not find it difficult to remand him in Ilesha Prisons and adjourn his case till October 19, 2007 when he would have spent a total of three months in detention.

In response, the Union has, at every opportunity, declared Akinola Saburi's arrest and detention as illegal, unconstitutional and unjust. We have rejected the composition of a "Student Transition Committee" as illegal and null and void. We have also demanded the management to hands off our Union and to stop the victimization of Union activists. To allow the general public to know the truth of the crisis, the Union has kick started a press campaign with press conferences and protest visits to media houses.

However, we appeal for political support from all student unions and organizations, progressive organizations, CWI sections, Trade Unions and working class platforms all over the world. The Students' Union of Obafemi Awolowo University is only being victimized for its radical stance against the neo-liberal anti-poor policies of successive Nigerian governments on education and the economy as a whole. We appeal to organizations, in Nigeria and beyond Nigeria, who are ready to participate in the struggle to save OAU Students' Union from these attacks to send the protest letter below. Outside Nigeria, there could be protests outside Nigerian embassies and activities help to raise awareness through leaflets, posters, Union bulletins, symposia etc about the events happening here among students in your country. The aim and focus is to show to the Nigerian capitalist government and the anti-poor governments of all countries that unity exist among all oppressed people of the world and that no matter the distance that separate us, we shall collectively fight to win the struggle for a society where education will be free and functional and people's needs will form the basis of governance.

In the opinion of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), such a society for the millions and not the millionaires is only possible if the workers and the mass of poor people take over the running of society and form a "workers' and peasants' government". It is only this kind of government of the poor that can, through socialist plan of production and democratic ownership of the commanding heights of the economy, channel the enormous resources of the society for the welfare of the poor.

H.T Soweto, Secretary, Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), OAU branch.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PROTEST LETTER
Copy and send this protest letters to the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) at registra@oauife.edu.ng, the Vice-Chancellor – mfaborode@yahoo.co.uk & mfaborod@oauife.edu.ng and the Federal Ministry of Education at ehquiries@fme.gov.ng and te@fme.ng. Note copies of all protest letters sent should be made available to the Democratic Socialist Movement (CWI, Nigeria) at dsmcentre@hotmail.com

HANDS OFF INDEPENDENT UNIONISM
Release Akinola Saburi
We have been informed about the proscription of the Students' Union of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) by the management of the University led by the Vice Chancellor Prof. Michael Faborode and the composition of a Student Representative Committee as a replacement for the Union. We have also heard about the unlawful arrest and detention of the President of the Students' Union, Akinola Saburi, the takeover of the Students' Union Building and the victimization of several union leaders.

May we clearly state it that the above actions individually and collectively taken by the management is an affront on the democratic rights of students to association and expression as eloquently provided for in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, African Charter on Human Rights and the 1948 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR). It must be stressed that the management and even the government have no lawful right to proscribe or suspend a Union. Thus, the alleged proscription of the Union and the Student Transition Committee are illegal.

We decry the arrest and continuous detention of Akinola Saburi who we insist has committed no crime. We regard the 10-count charges preferred against him as unfounded, unsubstantiable, wild and inconsistent. We also regard the whole process as a mockery of the judiciary for the magistrate court to have remanded Akinola Saburi in contravention of an order of the Federal High Court empowering Akinola Saburi to exercise his fundamental human rights without harassments.

We therefore call for immediate reversal of all illegal and draconian actions taken against the Union as well as a halt to victimization of Union activists.

Thank You