The SYL stands in solidarity with students of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA). And we join them in rejecting the proposed tuition hike. Education is a right, not a privilege. The federal government must prioritise public funding of education. As youths, we need access to quality education for us to be empowered to build a better society tomorrow, which starts today.
The APC government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu like the APC and PDP governments before him has failed the youths and the working masses who are our parents. Instead of making education affordable and improving both the academic and welfare situations on our campuses, they have continually made life harder for us.
Many students from poor working-class homes have already been forced to drop out in schools that have raised tuition fees. FUTA students union and the mass of students must resist the attempt of their school’s management to raise fees there as well.
The union and student activists have to organise popular education sessions to sensitise all students on the need to stand firm to protest any fee increase. The union and student activists need to organize demonstrations against the plan to stop it in its tracks, rather than waiting for the implementation and then negotiating for a miserly reduction of the increases that have already been put in place.
The need for struggle and solidarity now cannot be overemphasised. This must be on FUTA and with FUTA and students in other schools. We have been having protests in different schools with students in each of these fighting their own battles alone at each point in time. We need a national fightback to stop this new fees attack against our right to education. We must also call out to students across the world to stand with us and raise their voices in support of our resistance.
If we stand and fight together, we stand to win together!
Aishat Ogundimu
National Coordinator
Socialist Youths League
