The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the Federal Government to resolve the ongoing strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).
The
Congress urged the government to immediately set up a high-powered panel
constituted of members with requisite mandates to resolve within 21 days the
foregoing issues militating against industrial harmony in Nigeria’s university
system.
The
NLC said this in a statement by its President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and General
Secretary, Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja, after a meeting with its affiliate unions
in the education sector.
The
statement reads in part: “The Congress call on the Federal Government to
immediately set up a High-Powered Panel constituted of members with requisite
mandates to resolve within 21 days the foregoing issues militating against
industrial harmony in Nigeria’s university system.
“And
pursuant to the foregoing resolution, the Nigeria Labour Congress would be
convening a Special Meeting of the Central Working Committee (CWC) of all the
Affiliate Unions of the Congress to decide on the next line of action.”
The
NLC expressed concerns about the intermittent and protracted strikes and other
industrial actions in Nigeria’s public tertiary education system.
It
also expressed concerns over the non-implementation of Collective Bargaining
Agreements signed with unions in Nigeria’s tertiary education system which it
said touched on university funding, earned allowances, and other welfare issues
facing university staff.
The
Congress added that it was concerned about the fate of more than 95 oer cent of
Nigerian students constituted largely by children of the poor who cannot afford
to pay the average of One Million Naira school fees charged by private tertiary
institutions and who are currently idling away at home while the children of
the rich continue with their education.
The
NLC recalled that on 18th August 2020 it wrote the Ministers of Education,
Labour and Employment, Finance, Budget and National Planning, and the Accountant
General of the Federation in a move to avert the present shutdown of the
education sector.
The
Congress said only the Minister of Labour and Employment through a letter dated
28th August 2020 acknowledged the letter conveying its concerns for Nigeria’s
tertiary education.
The
decision of the four university-based unions to commence industrial action had
grounded academic activities in public universities.
Some
of their demands include: Re-negotiation of the 2009 Agreement which is
expected to be reviewed every three years; challenges with the implementation
of the Integrated Payment Payroll Information System (IPPIS); funding of
Universities and tertiary education system in Nigeria, non-payment of arrears
of minimum wage for university staff; and Earned Allowances for both Academic
and Non-Academic Staff of Nigeria’s Universities.
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