Comply With ECOWAS Judgement, FG Urged

A group, Education Rights Campaign, ERC, has urged the Federal and state governments  to immediately comply with the recent  judgment of the ECOWAS Community Court of  Justice which ruled that every Nigerian child is entitled to free and compulsory  education.

In a press statement signed by the group’s National Coordinator, ERC expressed their  pleasure to the historic judgment of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja  which ordered the Nigerian government to provide as of right, free and compulsory  education to every Nigerian child and the right of people to their wealth and  natural resources and to economic and social development as provided in Articles 1,  2, 17, 21, and 22 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.

“This ground-breaking judgment is a victory to all living and dead martyrs of the  Nigerian student movement, some of whom lost their lives, faced suspension and  expulsion, some of whom were even detained and saw the insides of prison walls in  the tumultuous struggle of Nigerian students over the decades against government  neo-liberal and anti-poor policies of education commercialisation and under funding  and for provision of a free and functional education at all levels.” ERC said.

The group identified that Nigeria has more than enough resources to provide free and  functional education at all levels but the only obstacle is the anti-poor capitalist  philosophy which the Nigerian ruling class and political office holders at federal,  state and local levels of governance have adopted as the only possible way to  organise society.

“In most tertiary institutions in Nigeria today, students and poor working class  parents are finding it hard to cope with rising cost of fees for accommodation,  feeding and sustenance in general and in the last five years, fees in tertiary  institutions have been increased by more than 700 per cent against a background of  falling standard of living and financial incapability of most working class parents  to provide three square meals for their family,” the statement read.

—Adeyera olubunmi

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