Obasanjo killed students’ unionism, says Bakare

Obasanjo killed students’ unionism, says Bakare

The Convener of Save Nigeria Group and the General Overseer of Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of killing students’ unionism in the country when he was the military Head of State in 1978.
He made the allegation at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, on Monday. The occasion was the 2014 anniversary of the International Day of Students.
He said Obasanjo, as the then Head of State in 1978, used brute force to repress the students during the ‘Ali Must Go’ protest.
Some students were killed in the protest. One of them was Akintunde Ojo.
Delivering a paper titled, “Good Governance: Sustainability of Democracy, the Role of Students in the Forthcoming General Elections,” Bakare said it was unfortunate that students’ unionism had been hijacked by unserious students.
He added that not only had students’ unionism fallen from its pinnacle of intellectual doggedness and ideological astuteness, it had also lost its activist steam, become a mere appendage of ruling political parties and a tool in the hands of corrupt politicians.
Tracing the history of students’ unionism from the colonial days, he noted that it suffered a fatal blow in 1978.
He said, “General Olusegun Obasanjo’s government ordered the brutal suppression of that protest. Live bullets were unleashed on protesting students.As we proceeded outside the University of Lagos main gate, I narrowly escaped death, as Akintunde Ojo, the young man standing just beside me, was gunned down.
“Through that incident, Obasanjo carved his name on marble as a villain of democracy.
“I did not mince words when opportunity presented itself in November of 1978, when I pointed to his face and said, ‘This government possesses power without compassion, might without morality and strength without sight.’”
While arguing that students’ unionism had been hijacked by never-do- wells, he said the height of this fall was the conferment of the title “Defender of Democracy” on Obasanjo in 2005 by students’ body.
He said, “The apotheosis of the perfidious degeneration of students’ unionism occurred in 2005, when the National Association Nigerian Students decorated Gen. Obasanjo as a ‘Defender of Democracy.’ Yes, the same Obasanjo who masterminded the brutal repression of unarmed students who were merely registering their displeasure over hike in fees.”
Bakare also frowned on the role played by students’ leaders in the botched third term bid of Obasanjo. He said NANS shamelessly campaigned for Obasanjo’s life presidency agenda.
He said, “In essence, Obasanjo killed students’ unionism in Nigeria. As a military Head of State, he killed National Union of Nigerian Students by brutal repression and proscription.
“When Obasanjo returned as civilian president, he killed NANS and made it a shadow of itself.
“Upon the foundation of corruption of students’ unionism, NANS has become weak and factionalised in subsequent administrations.”
He then called on the student body to embark on a journey of rebirth to return to the good old days of student activism.
“You must rid yourselves of cultism and other self-destructive tendencies and take back students’ unionism from hoodlums and charlatans.
“You must restore students’ unionism to its glorious days. After undergoing such a rebirth, the students’ union must become a shining light to the dark polity,” he said.
The state Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, at the event, warned the students to shun politicians who might want to use them for thuggery before, during and after the general elections.
He said, “Don’t allow any politician to manipulate you or use you for election violence. Tell them when they come to you to go and use their own children.”