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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.”