Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has stated that Nigeria is endowed with enough resources and sufficient enough to provide free education at all levels for its citizenry.
Falana made this known on Saturday at a public programme organised by the Revolutionary Socialist Movement and the Save Public Education Campaign in Abuja.
He added that free education and other social amenities were possible if resources were democratically managed and controlled.
The topic of the programme was; “Nigeria at 63: Any hope for the working masses under Bola Ahmed Tinubu Government.” The subtopic is; Public education crisis: What can be done?
Falana noted that the resources available to Nigerian universities must be monitored and also the revenue shared to different state and local governments. He added that the piecemeal palliative provided by the government must be rejected by the people, because the federal government could afford billions of naira for National Assembly members for cars, allowances, renovation, and consistency projects.
He further lamented that the Nigerian constitution did not permit consistency projects for legislators, adding that the executives are to implement concrete projects.
“Today, legislators are earning millions in the name of consistency projects without any tangible projects. Nigerian constitution guarantees free education at all levels,” he said.
Falana urged the students to return to the tradition of fighting and reject the new regime of fees increment even as he condemned fees increment across Nigerian universities.
On his part, the Federal Capital Territory chairman of the Africa Action Congress, Bob Agnes, said police brutality had continued nationwide, even as the police moved around with POS machines and carry out arbitrary arrests of innocent youths across the country.
He urged Nigerians to stand up to defend their rights.
Dammy Owot, the secretary of Workers and Youth Solidarity Network, said, “The new fees regime will send many students from poor and working class families out of school and we call on Nigerian students to fight back. Because the claim by government that there are no resources to fund education isn’t tenable.”
Dimeji Macaulay, a socialist and trade union activist said there was no solution to Nigerian problems under Tinubu, because Tinubu was an extension of the Muhammadu Buhari regime and also the crisis in Nigeria had escalated.