The Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Federal Government are at odds, and the Ondo State Branch of the Nigeria Labour Congress on Tuesday joined its counterparts in other states of the Federation to protest this impasse.
In support of ASUU, the national labor union announced a two-day protest. The goal of the protest was to end the ongoing ASUU strike.
The state’s workers, including members of ASUU and other trade unions, participated in the protest in large numbers.
They wore branded shirts and converged at Cenotaph, Alagbaka Akure, as early as 7 am where they took off to some popular locations within the metropolis.
The workers chanted solidarity songs as they marched through the popular Oba Adesida Road, carrying placards with inscriptions such as ‘Enough is enough” “End ASUU strike now” ‘Get our children back to school,’ ‘FG, grant our demands,’ ‘No to IPPIS inconsistencies; no to salary disparity in the universities,’ among others.
Sunday Adeleye, the state’s NLC chairman, spoke to the protesters and lamented the ongoing ASUU strike, which he claimed had crippled tertiary education in Nigeria. He urged the federal government to give in to the lecturers’ demands so that students could return to the classroom.
Adeleye stated that the NLC would “relentlessly advocate for decent government that will ensure the future of Nigerians, particularly workers and students.”
Prof. Peter Awopetu, the chairman of the ASUU at the Federal University of Technology in Akure, also spoke. He accused the government of being callous and insensitive, claiming that it had spent billions of naira on politics and power plays but nothing on education.
He said, “As of today, despite the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)’s directive, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, hasn’t done anything. That means, one week has been waisted out of the two weeks.
“There is none of us here who is below 18 years, it will be an insult to believe that someone is sponsoring us. Don’t we know what we are passing through? Don’t we go to the market? In a nation where they can’t pay N30,000 minimum wage, one person is embezzling N170 billion. We have to tell this government that enough is enough and nobody should tell Nigerians that there is no money in Nigeria.
“Nigerian government must rise to duty and block all the loopholes where individuals can embezzle N170billion.”
In receiving the petition from the protesters on behalf of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, the state’s head of service said that the federal government will take all necessary steps to put an end to the ongoing strike.
ASUU Strike: “We Want Our Children Back To School” – NLC Kaduna Chapter
The Academic Staff Union of Universities’ ongoing strike at public higher education institutions prompted the Kaduna State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress to join the national protest on Tuesday.
Ayuba Suleiman, the state chairman of the NLC, stated in his speech that protest was still the only language the Nigerian government could understand.
Suleiman said that ASUU has the full support of Nigerian workers, who wanted their demands to be met by the government.
This is a serious business. We want our children back to school. We are not financially buoyant to send our children abroad for study. Labour is ready to take it back by our struggle,” he said.
He claims that the federal government’s refusal to take the required actions to bring about a peaceful resolution of the issues in contention and put an end to the strike has alarmed labour.
Suleiman, who led the protest at The Kaduna State House of Assembly, added, “On our part, we have taken various initiatives to end this strike, including writing to the Ministers of Education and Labour and Employment and the presidency.
He said, “However, we find it appropriate to appeal to you to use your good offices and good conscience to get the federal to bring to an end this strike action.
“The immediate concern would be the immediate payment of the withheld salaries of university staff, shelve IPPIS, honour the agreements government entered into or re-negotiate in good faith, rebuild confidences, establish a frame work for repositioning our universities for competitive service delivery and relevance in line with their mandate.”
While receiving the protesters, the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Isaac Auta Zankai, thanked the leadership of the union for their patience.
“On behalf of the Honourable Speaker, I want to thank you for your patience. Nobody is happy to see the students at home, and we desire to ensure the children are back to school.
“The Honourable Speaker and Chairman, Northern Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yusuf Ibrahim Zailani, is currently in Abuja over the issue, and we know a positive response soon,” he said.
Aviation Workers Protest Alongside NLC In Lagos
Meanwhile some members of the National Union of Air Transport Employees and other aviation unions have joined the Nigerian Labour Congress’ ongoing demonstration which took place at Ikeja, Lagos State, on Tuesday.
The General Secretary of NUATE, Comrade Aba Ocheme, while speaking to The PUNCH on Tuesday, said, “Yes, we will be joining the public protest. Other aviation groups that are the NLC affiliates will be joining the protest. There is the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals, and then NUATE, which are all affiliates of the NLC that will be joining the protest. But no aviation cooperation will be affected, all operations will go on normally. Those who are not working will join the march organised by the NLC.”
Meanwhile, the President, ATSSSAN, Ilitrus Ahmad said, “We are not joining the NLC’s protest. We are not a part of them, we don’t have any directive to join the strike. We belong to the Trade Union Congress.”
Due to JetA1’s extreme shortage and rising price, the aviation sector has been struggling to stay in operation. The lack of foreign exchange is a further issue affecting the sector.
The NLC organised the nationwide protest in support of ASUU in response to their strike, which reached its fifth month on July 14, 2022.
Workers in Abuja and the state capitals were directed to join the protest last week by the Nigeria Labour Congress.
ASUU Strike Has Increased Social Vices – Niger NLC
Bako Abdulrahman, vice chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress in Niger State, has attributed the rise in social vices in the country on students’ idleness as a result of the ongoing ASUU strike.According to Bako, staying at home has resulted in the students engaging in a number of social vices. Bako made this statement on Tuesday during the NLC nationwide solidarity protest in support of ASUU against the ongoing closure of tertiary institutions across the nation.
The deputy chairman of the NLC added that the ASUU members had endured unspeakable agony as a result of the ongoing strike since their salaries were not being paid.
Bako called on Nigerians to ensure that they get their PVCs as it would be the weapon to use in voting for competent leaders who have the people’s interest at heart.
“The PVC is an agent of change. During elections, the civil servants and ASUU are used as returning officers. We have the weapon to deal with them. We have the weapon to bring in those we want to rule us. We cannot allow miscreants to continue to preside over our destiny,” the Vice Chairman stated.
The president of the National Association of Niger State Students, Saliha Buhari, said the students are planning to initiate a ‘no resumption, no election’ policy.
She said they would ensure that elections do not hold if they do not go back to school.
According to her, students are left with no option but to vote for the opposition parties because the APC government has shown a total lack of interest in the education of the children of the masses.
“To every student, please get your PVC. Your PVC is your weapon to get the change desired. If ASUU demands are not met, and we are not called back to our various campuses, we will implement the ‘no resumption, no election’ move.
” If we do not go back to our schools, we are going to call on all Nigerian students to vote for the opposition party because the APC government has shown us that they will not give our education priority. They do not care about us or want us to go to school. We are tired. Enough is enough”, she said.
