From our Correspondents
The organised labour under the auspices of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday commenced nationwide solidarity protests over the lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Daily Trust reports that students in government-owned universities have been at home since February because of the strike.
Failing repeated calls on the federal government to resolve the dispute, the NLC resorted to solidarity protests which kicked off yesterday across the country.
Our correspondents report that the protests were generally peaceful and devoid of unwholesome incidents even though there were disruptions in movement, including vehicular, in some states.
In Lagos, the protesters marched from Ikeja to Alausa, placards with inscriptions such as: ‘Nigeria at 60 years of independence, more hunger in the land’, ‘Stop importation of petrol, refine the refineries’, ‘Reduce the cost of governance now, save the masses from poverty and hunger, among others while chanting solidarity songs.
They were led by State NLC Chairman, Comrade Agnes Funmilayo Sessi, alongside rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN).
Falana who spoke during the protest decried incessant university strikes in the country and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to collect money from looters to solve the lingering issue between the government and ASUU.
One of our correspondents reports that there was heavy deployment of both military and Para-military personnel in most parts of Lagos to forestall any breakdown of law and order following the protest organised by NLC in solidarity with the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU).
In Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) during their peaceful protest said it will mobilise to ground all sectors of the national economy if the federal government failed to meet the demands of striking university lecturers.
Our correspondent reports that the NLC along with the other trade unions in the state who moved from the NLC Secretariat to the state Secretariat in Agodi said they would not relent until government do the needful and rise up to its responsibility.
The protesters wrote inscriptions on their placards such as; ‘Say Yes to Quality Education’, ‘Workers Rights, Human Rights, ‘No Education, No Life’, ‘Save Our Children Life’, ‘Nigerian ‘Universities are Bleeding’, ‘Enough is Enough, ‘Bring our Children Back to School’, among others.
Daily Trust observed that major roads linking the main city to the state Secretariat were blocked.
In Kano, State NLC Chairman, Kabiru Ado Minjibir, in a message said that they demand the federal government do everything to resolve the lingering industrial action in the Universities.
He said withheld salaries of university workers as a result of invoking the no-work no-pay policy must be released.
“We demand immediate payment of withheld salary of the striking University staff. We also call on the Federal Government to stop the use of the IPPIS platform for paying the staff.
“This rally is in support of the striking University workers because we wrote a letter to the minister of education but it yielded no reasonable response,” he said.
In Osogbo, the Osun State capital, protesters moved from the Ogo-Oluwa area of Osogbo, the state capital to the State House of Assembly.
Policemen and operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps accompanied the protesters to prevent the breakdown of law and order.
In Kwara state members of the union which comprised the NLC, ASUU, NASU, SANU and other allied unions matched across major areas like Post Office, Challenge, A-Division roundabout and Government House to submit their letter of protest to the state government.
They also displayed placards with inscriptions like “my child my pride” among others.
Speaking with journalists at the NLC Secretariat in Ilorin, the Kwara State Chairman of the Union, Comrade Aliyu Isa-Ore said if the federal government refuses to heed their demand after the rally, the Union will commence a three-day warning strike.
Similarly, the NLC and its affiliate unions turned out enmass in the solidarity protest with ASUU.
Our correspondent reports that the procession which started from Secretariat Junction, under the flyover, had a heavy security presence of the police and the army.
Plateau State NLC chairman, Comrade Eugene Manji, said the protest is just to sound a note of warning to the government to do all they could to resolve the ASUU crisis, noting that if nothing is done about it they will embark on a total strike, depending on the directive from the NLC national body.
In Kaduna, about 47 Trade Union organisations joined the Kaduna State chapter of the NLC National protest in solidarity with ASUU.
The protesters, led by the NLC State Chairman, Comrade Ayuba Sulieman, marched to the Kaduna State House of Assembly singing and chanting solidarity songs to table their grievances. Comrade Suleiman later delivered a two-paged written document to the Deputy Speaker, Kaduna State House of Assembly Rt. Hon. Isaac Auta Zankai.
In Benue, our correspondent reports that the protesters marched in their numbers through the streets of Makurdi to the Government House gate where they presented a protest letter to the Governor for onward transfer to the Federal Government.
State NLC Chairman, Godwin Anya, who read the letter, noted that the strike had been on for over five months and has had a huge cost on children, University staff, parents and other stakeholders and entire Nigerians.
“The strike was as a result of non-implementation of the 2009 agreement that government voluntarily entered into with the union. The strike came as a result of the IPPIS payment platform, the strike arose because the federal government fails to take necessary steps concerning the dispute and by extension end the strike,” he said.
In Kogi, the State Chapter of the NLC described the lingering crisis between the Federal Government and Unions of the nation’s tertiary institutions as an expression of insensitivity on the part of the powers that be.
The state NLC chairman, Comrade Onuh Edoka, who disclosed this as they joined their counterparts in the nationwide warning strike to move the federal government to shift ground and address the issues involved, said that the federal government should put its act together and ensure that the students return back to the classrooms to stop this “national eyesore and embarrassment.”
In Ebonyi, our correspondent reports that the protesting workers were led by the state chairman of NLC comrade, Ikechukwu Nwafor in a peaceful procession carrying placards with various solidarity inscriptions.
Meanwhile, leading the protesters yesterday in Gombe, state chairman of the NLC, Comrade Muhammad Adamu Musa, said that it is expected that the peaceful protest will pressurize the governors to compel the federal government to resolve all lingering issues and re-open the universities for academic activities to resume.
According to him, the federal government has the sole mandate to call off the strike, “because it is the government that forced the ASUU to embark on this unfortunate strike by refusing to honour its agreement.”
From Bayelsa, our correspondent reports that Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has approved the increment of subvention to the state-owned tertiary institutions.
Speaking at the Government House entrance on Tuesday when he received members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) that were part of a nationwide protest in solidarity with the ASUU, Diri said as a government that places a high premium on education, his administration took the decision to strengthen the institutions for effective service delivery.
He said that his administration has not stopped the salary of ASUU members in state institutions despite the protracted strike, explaining that the gesture was part of his government’s commitment to the development of the educational subsector.
Earlier, the State Chairman of NLC, Comrade Bipre Ndiomu, said the ASUU strike was at a huge cost and appealed to the governor to help labour impress on the Federal Government to do the needful for schools to be reopened.
Similarly, members of the organised labour yesterday stormed major roads in Abeokuta, Ogun State, to protest the five-month long strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
The protest which disrupted commercial activities in the state capital took place on major roads.
The NLC Chairman, Emmanuel Bankole, vowed that should the government refuse to honour the agreement it signed with ASUU, workers would not hesitate to shut down the country.
Also at the protest was the state Chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Students, (NANS) who bemoaned the federal government saying Nigerians have been quiet for too long.
In Edo State protesting labour unions marched through the street of Benin City to the government house and submitted a petition to the state governor Godwin Obaseki.
The protesters displayed placards such as “University teachers deserve a living wage”; “our children have been at home for too long”; “stop playing with the lives of our future leaders”, and “stopping our salaries won’t deter us from fighting for our rights”.
Our correspondent, who monitored the protest in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, reports that the procession began at the MLC house along Makurdi Road and moved to Total Filling Station before ending in Government House, Lafia.
Speaking immediately after the procession in Government House Lafia, Comrade Yusuf Iya lamented that the lingering strike has negatively affected the education sector and kept the students idle and therefore make them vulnerable to vices.
The Akwa Ibom chairman of NLC, Comrade Sunny James also led workers in a solidarity protest in support of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike.
James alongside other workers walked in a slow procession on Tuesday in Uyo chanting solidarity songs, carrying placards with various inscriptions.
Some of the placards read, ‘Stop proliferation of universities’, ‘Sign and implement all negotiated agreements’, ‘IPPIS is a fraud’, ‘bring back our students to the University among others.
James who addressed a large number of the protesters at the entrance to the Government House expressed disappointment over the inability of the Federal Government to meet the demands of the University workers since the strike started more than five months ago.
“For those of you that looked for change, we have experienced a change in a drastic dimension, the change has come to be worse,” he said.
In Anambra, the protest disrupted economic activities for hours while vehicular movement was put to a halt along the ever-busy Enugu-Awka-Onitsha expressway.
The protesters warned that enough is enough, noting that they gathered to say no to the injustice done to the education sector.
“We are no longer safe, our take home is nothing; their children are all aboard. The Nigerian education sector is very critical. Today will bring to an end this protracted strike, they must implement to the letter what has been agreed, justice must be done,” one of the protesters said.”
