Kazeem Olalekan Israel, a student activist is former Public Relations Officer (PRO), National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Zone D (South West) as well as National Vice President (South West), National Association of University Students (NAUS). In this interview with EJIKEME OMENAZU, Comrade Israel, an aspirant to the position of NANS Coordinator, South West Zone, speaks on Political interferences in student unionism and Federal Government’s students’ loans scheme, among other issues. Excerpt:
To what extent have you been involved in student unionism and NANS politics?
I have been actively involved in NANS since my undergraduate days. I contested the election and won as a Zonal PRO. I am very conversant with students’ unionism and its workings. During my undergraduate days, I was a vibrant students’ leader. I was a member of the Judicial Council, Great Ife Students’ Union. I was also Chief Press Secretary to the Senate President of NAUS and NAUS National VP (South West). In all the positions I have occupied, I have always taken pro-students’ positions because of my radical Great Ife background.
You are aspiring to be the Coordinator, NANS Zone D. What states are in the zone? When will the election hold?
NANS Zone D covers the six South West states of Oyo, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti. The election will be held on October 17, 2024 at Akure, Ondo State.
What is your agenda, if elected into office?
My agenda is to rejuvenate NANS; to give NANS life. It is suffocating right now and is at its nadir. It is no more that body which was the headache of the post-colonial ruling class. As Coordinator, I shall resist privatisation of Unity Schools and merger of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education with universities. I will fight for democratisation of decision-making organs in the educational sector, fight for upgrade of polytechnics and colleges of education and demand an end to discrimination against HND certificates. I will campaign for independent students’ unionism on campuses, demand for the signing of the Prevention, Prohibition and Redressing of Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Educational Institutions Bill, 2019, by the President, fight for affordable and accessible education at all levels. I will also fight for the renovation of existing institutions, provision of adequate hostel facilities, upgrade of libraries and laboratories, resist hike in fees by demanding government scholarship and bursary to aid students in paying fees. Others are fighting for provision of textbooks, adequate Industrial Training (IT) allowance for Nigerian students and resist arbitrary increment in price of fuel.
How do you see student unionism in Nigeria today?
Student unionism in Nigeria today has lost its ideological direction, hence it is important to rejuvenate it. We now have a NANS leadership that is concerned with snapping pictures with senators and governors, while we continue to witness a serious crisis in the educational sector. NANS of those days would have taken a position in support of Palestine in the face of the violence recently carried out by Israel in Gaza. NANS would have taken a position on the Russia-Ukraine war. When we compare the student unionism of then which resisted the Anglo-Nigerian Defence Pact on the basis that it ran contrary to the non-alignment posture of the country, and the NANS of today which has remained silent in the face of disturbing (inter) national issues, one would understand that there is a huge problem.
What is your take on political interference in the affairs of NANS?
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Unfortunately, political interference has led to the commercialisation of struggle in NANS. There was a time when the Nigerian student movement was the symbol of radicalism because of its clear ideological base. Sadly, political interferences have hindered Nigerian students to have a clear vision of the society; its organisation. Political interference has now heightened tension in every NANS convention. It has led to a situation where NANS celebrates and adores mediocrity.
How do you see the hike in school fees in almost all institutions in the country?
I was part of the NANS national delegation to UNILAG in an interaction with their Vice Chancellor over a 400% hike in school fees immediately after the students’ loan scheme of this administration was announced. Giving loans for students to access education means that the government sees education as business venture. People did not understand that students’ loans are a prelude to a hike in tuition fees. Meanwhile, NANS, based on its Charter of Demand, is against commercialisation of education. Increasing school fees is not just exploitative, but pregnant with potentially very grave consequences for the youth and the broader Nigerian population. With hike in tuition fees, a significant portion of the Nigerian population will be denied access to opportunities that could uplift them from poverty and empower them to contribute actively to society. It is important for us to begin a debate of what counts as quality education. If our primary, secondary and technical schools (colleges and polytechnics inclusive) are well and alive, the country will not be having thousands of youths struggling to go to the universities. Why? University is meant for learning, research and training. Quality education will focus on critical thinking, creativity, and the well-rounded development of youths, but that is evidently lacking in Nigeria today. Quality education is dependent on factors like faculty expertise, curriculum design, infrastructure, and institutional commitment to academic excellence, not how expensive the fees are (which the ruling elites want us to believe). However, the funding to secure these factors of quality education can only be consistently guaranteed by public funding, not exorbitant fees. How many milestone academic achievements have our private schools with their exorbitant fees made since establishment, if truly exorbitant fees guarantee the quality of education? It is important that education is not priced out of the reach of the average citizen. This is why hikes in fees in educational institutions are condemnable. The Federal Government’s attempt to, in the guise of students’ loans, make tertiary education unaffordable is wrong. A lot of countries have tried the students’ loan model, and it has not worked, but ended up discouraging many people from getting formal education. This is even more dangerous in a nation like ours where the youth unemployment rate is above the roof. The Federal Government is effectively throwing young Nigerians into a life of debt as there are no jobs for these students after graduation. The Federal Government’s policies have led to the collapse of many SMEs and exit of multinationals. Where, then, do the students want to earn to repay the loans?
What is your take on the Federal Government’s loan scheme for students in higher institutions?
The students’ loan scheme is a prelude to hike in tuition fees across tertiary institutions. Recently, the University of Ibadan, for the second time after the introduction of students’ loans, increased its fees to about N300,000. Students’ loan means the government is taking its hands off investing in the educational sector. Students’ loan, as against the lies being told by pro-government people, will not make the poor have access to qualitative education. It will only serve as a hindrance for people to access education. In a country with mass illiteracy, we do not need loans. What we need is the government’s commitment to massive investment in the educational sector. The President, in his inaugural speech, while removing fuel subsidy, promised that the proceeds will go into funding education and social infrastructure. The money should truly go into that. In the 2024 budget, just a token of N1.57trn, about 6.39%, was allocated to the educational sector. This even falls short of the 8.8% we had in 2023. Meanwhile, Nigeria, being in the threshold, should allocate between 15% to 20% of the educational sector, according to UNESCO recommendations. The N100bn purportedly injected into the students’ loan scheme will work better in funding affordable education in line with the NEEDS assessment of Nigerian tertiary institutions. The students’ loan is more like a Greek gift. The government is ‘giving’ to students with one hand and taking it back with the other in the form of an increase of fees across the country’s institutions. In all honesty, a students’ loan will solve nothing because only a very small percentage of applicants will be considered and granted loans. What happens to the rest? Information even has it that with 9,000 applicants for the loan in the ’73/’74 academic year, only 3,165 were considered for loan. Nigerian students need grants, bursaries and scholarships. Financial assistance (not repayable) should be rendered to students from very poor backgrounds. How do we keep giving loans in a country with over 133million of its citizens living in multidimensional poverty? It will do nothing, but increase the number of out-of-school children. We already have over 20million out-of-school children, according to UNESCO. The government must tackle that by investing heavily in the educational sector. Also, our educational institutions must be secured. In fact, the issue of insecurity must be generally addressed. In Northern Nigeria alone, over 1.3million children cannot go to school because the government has shut thousands of schools in response to armed banditry, terrorism and kidnapping. The statistics are there. At primary and secondary school levels, we are faced with a shortage of teachers. It is time for us as a students’ body to start demanding for free and compulsory education at primary and secondary school levels. Once primary and secondary school education is made free and compulsory, the man-made disparity and educational imbalance between the North and South will be erased. The fees structure at the country’s Unity Schools must be brought down. Technical schools must also be brought back to life. They must be revived.
How do you think the constant strikes by trade unions in higher institutions could be stopped?
Section 14 Subsection 2 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) already places a mandate on the government to prioritise welfare and security of the people. Once the welfare of teachers and non-teachers are prioritised and given optimum attention, strikes will be eradicated. The government must be proactive when responding to the demands of the trade unions. We need an honest government.
What is your take on government funding of education in the country?
Government should understand that a major challenge before it is to make education accessible to all. This is why NANS must start asking questions. The N683bn supposedly released to tertiary institutions, where is it? What has happened to the fund? What are the projects being done now in those institutions with the fund? The N68bn UBE fund of 2023 which some 29 states claimed could not be accessed by them, what has become of it? Education should not be seen as a consumption material or service. It is an invisible capital in our march to progress; a production agent. My take is the same as that of NANS as stated in the Charter of Demand; Education MUST be free, accessible, qualitative and affordable. Charging N300,000+ in public tertiary institutions is outrageous, especially when you put it side-by-side with our parents’ salaries.
