Members of the Nigeria Labour Congress are protesting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, in solidarity with the strike action of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
Led by the umbrella Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), workers
across all sectors of the national economy filed out on Tuesday to commence a
two-day nationwide protest against the continued shutdown of public
universities.
The Nigerian public universities have been shut for more
than five months over unresolved issues of poor welfare and underfunding of the
institutions between the various workers’ unions and the government.
Worried by the continued closure and the attendant
consequences including rising insecurity and unemployment, NLC called out its
affiliates across the country to embark on nationwide protest.
The union’s President, Ayuba Wabba, who has consistently
faulted the government’s description of the declared protest as a solidarity
one, said his union is directly concerned by the development because the
affected unions are its affiliates.
He also threatened that if the crisis remained unresolved
after the protest, NLC would mobilise workers nationwide to embark on a warning
strike, the development that may further hurt the nation’s precarious economy.
Mr Wabba also threatened more actions that could compel the
government to accede to the striking workers’ demands.
Today’s protest
As of 8a.m on Tuesday, thousands of protesters had gathered
at Ikeja “underbridge” in Lagos while others were moving from the Labour House
in the Yaba area of the city to join the protest.
There are reports of heavy presence of security operatives
across major parts of the city including Ikeja, Ojota, and Ikorodu Road, among
other places.
Meanwhile, from Ilorin, Kwara State capital, to Jos in
Plateau, both in the North-central part of the country, updates on the protest
have shown massive turnout of workers and students.
Earlier on Tuesday, the chairman of SSANU at the University
of Ilorin, Olusola Falowo, sent out words to his union members and allies to
join the mass protest. He said the protest would be peaceful, promising that no
infiltration by thugs would be allowed.
ASUU, other unions’ demands
Nigerian university workers under their various unions
including the Academic Staff of Nigerian Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff
Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union of
Educational and Allied Institutions (NASU) and the National Association of
Academic Technologists (NAAT), have embarked on strike to protest what they
termed poor funding of universities and poor welfare conditions.
ASUU, which commenced its nationwide industrial action on
February 14, has continued to roll it over for more than five months.
The union had rejected the introduction of the Integrated
Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) as a payment platform for the
workers as introduced by the government and sought its replacement with
University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of both SSANU and NASU has
also rejected IPPIS, even as it presented an alternative said to have also been
developed by its members to the government.
Government steps up resolution efforts
President Muhammadu Buhari last week ordered the Minister of
Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, to step down from negotiation with the
striking workers to allow his Education Ministry counterpart, Adamu Adamu, to
take over.
Mr Adamu, during the joint presentation of negotiation
progress report to President Muhammadu Buhari, had explained the reason for his
aloofness since the workers’ strike commenced and pledged to fast track the
process of the resolution.
0 comments:
Post a Comment