ERC COMMEMORATE JUNE 16 WITH CIRCULATION OF LEAFLET AJEGUNLE.

Activists leaflet the students and teachers about June 16

 It was June 16, a day set aside to commemorate the killing of students in South Western Town during the South African apartheid regime in 1976. The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) have to organize activities around this day to politically demands that the Nigerian government should fund public education
with public resources to meet up with the recommendation of UNESCO, that neo-colonial backward countries like Nigeria should fund education with 26% of

her budget to reduce the growing rate of illiteracy by building more Primary, Secondary and Tertiary schools and universities in order to curb the numbers of people who want to acquired education as a democratic right and human necessity. While this was a day of action.

ERC, (Ajegunle) in one of the poorest ghetto slum in Lagos State, Nigeria, organizes activities around this date. A day of mobilizing Nigerian students nationwide and academic union to reject government neo-liberial policies of commercializing and privatizing public education, as is currently being carried out by the Oyo State government. 

And as things went on this day of June 16, 2016 (Thursday). In the very hour of 01:05pm, ERC/DSM members, activists, sympathizers and students about eight in numbers went out to circulate leaflets and also invites students to attend a public meeting to discuss the state of education in Nigeria. In the same trend of things, discuss with students on how to have a joint action with teachers to demands for adequate funding of public education.

 Living the DSM secretariat in the exact hour above. We got to Tolu Complex in the Ajegunle environ that has16 Secondary schools put together like a prison yard without adequate facilities in place. When we arrived at the complex some minutes before the hour of 02:00pm. An immediate demonstration was first made to get attention of people living in that community where placard was raised and solidarity songs sang.

People like food vendors, residents, began to wondered what was going on when they saw us. Not until some of us with leaflets in hand begin to circulate it for people to get the knowledge of people of why we are singing. However, when it was 02:00pm, we immediately resolved that we should divide ourselves in two group because of the reason that the Told Complex have two exit and was highly populated. Immediately, students started trooping out from their various secondary schools like Temidire, Alakoto, Mokoya, Ojora, Tin Island and Unity Secondary Schools etc.

We began to approach the students in their numbers with the leaflet about why they should demand that government fund education adequately, also, with the anthem of ERC and literary tune of "fight for better education. 


Education is your right." Initially when the leaflet was given to the students coming out from their various schools whose faces expresses tiredness, didn't picked interest in the leaflet circulated. But the comrades in position of circulating the materials, have to pick the initiative of singing the ERC anthem of: Education is our rights (twice).

Immediately, this was sang, some of the students begin to show enthusiasm to collect the leaflet. Even some teaching staff going along with the students, and food vendors also collected it.

While the circulation of the leaflet was on after using the ERC anthem to earn attention. Some of the students who have heard of this and participated in the last edition of the Free Summer Lesson (2015), also join us to leaflet their colleagues. However, some of us have to attend to other students who were from New Land, Express, Mokoya secondary schools etc on the question asked about the issues on the leaflet and education generally.

We were able to make intervention by saying that the collapse of public education was caused by government policy of privatization. A policy that should be held responsible for breaking down the foundations of public education with policies of enriching the profiteers. As the students collecting the leaflets showed eagerness in it.

Members of DSM/ERC who were on ground to make impact politically through the June 16 of Soweto in South Africa organized today by ERC Ajegunle, deepen the interaction with the students by bringing to light the perpetrated act committed by the South African regime then, which also, even when is the 

ANC government that is in power under Jacob Zuma, doesn't resolve the race contradiction rooted in the system of capitalism.

Interestingly, after exhausting closed to two hours in leafleting the whole entire Tolu complex with more than a thousand copy of leaflet. A school community highly populated with students where the environment is not even hygienic and conducive for learning most especially during the wet season. 

Students as comrades does observed when leafleting, saw students crossing a pond water after the previous downpour in their numbers in order to get home fast before another drop again. An educational crisis faced by students and academic teaching staff which is not unconnected to anti-poor capitalist policies of privatization and commercialization of public schools.

Members of DSM/ERC including sympathizers and secondary school students joined us after distributing the leaflets, to displayed placards that have the following demands: (1) Governor Ambode employ teachers now! At least 35 pupils per a teacher in a classroom. (2) An increase for an new Minimum Wage of #56, 000: 00. (3) 26% as budgetary allocation for public education now! (4) Students demand Ambode government to build more classrooms against the ratio of 100:1 in class. (5) Joint action of students and teachers to demand for government to increase funding of public education etc.