The chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) University of Ibadan chapter, Professor Ayo Akinwole, on Tuesday, June 11, challenged the federal government to promote democratic culture and activities that will boost the Nigerian economy.
Professor Akinwole in a release to mark the June 12 Democracy day celebration entitled: “Twenty Five Years of Democratic Era in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic: The Experience of the University System”, noted: “disappointingly and unfortunately, twenty-five years after the return of democracy to Nigeria, the Nigerian citizenry are yet to enjoy the benefits and dividends of democracy, as some or most of the malaise and challenges characteristic of the military rule are still very much palpable and obvious in the Nigerian body-politic.”
The ASUU boss added: “Six years after (June 6, 2018), the Muhammadu Buhari administration announced June 12 as democracy day in Nigeria, we have every reason to think celebrating democracy day cannot be enough without democratic leadership style”
Professor Akinwole noted that the FG owes “it a duty to our children, born and unborn to be educated in decent classrooms and not under the trees or sheds.”
He further stated:“Our children are entitled, as of right, to laboratory and classroom facilities. In the event of a lack of these, they will be enslaved all over again in the coming century by people who are not better endowed by nature and by God.
“The basic social amenities enjoyed by the citizens of other advanced democracies are still elusive and far-fetched in Nigeria. There is still epileptic power supply, inadequate and dysfunctional health care system, dilapidated road networks, dysfunctional educational system occasioned by poor funding and neglect by the government, and the ruling class. Similarly, the twin principles of liberty and equality on which modern democracy is founded are relatively absent in the Nigerian democracy.
“The absence of liberty can be exemplified in the incessant molestation of the citizenry by the ruling class and their agents. This is epitomized in the use of security operatives and the armed forces to brutalize Nigerians who embark on peaceful demonstrations (which is the universally accepted means of expressing grievances) as was the case during the “EndSars” protest in October 2020 and during the 2022 protest by the Nigerian students who were calling on the government to pay attention to the education sector and resolve its difference with the university unions in order to reopen the Universities in Nigeria during the ASUU strike of 2022.
Credit: The nation
