O. Adejo
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has announced a one-day nationwide protest to compel the federal government to find immediate solutions to issues with education sector unions.
VIP magazine reports that the NLC President Ayuba Wabba made this known at the start of the Congress’ Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Thursday in Abuja.
Mr Wabba expressed sadness over the country’s tertiary institutions’ continued closures due to unresolved labour disputes between the federal government and education unions.
Academic activities have been suspended at all public universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education for months as the federal government continues to drag its feet in meeting the demands of the affected labour unions.
The unions want funding for the revitalisation fund, earned allowances, the implementation of the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) scheme, and promotion arrears.
Other demands include, among others, the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FG Agreement and the resolution of inconsistencies in the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
Mr Wabba recalled that the federal government had been given a 21-day deadline to convene a high-powered committee to resolve issues with ASUU and other education unions.
“The committees’ deadline of three weeks to turn in all reports and allow the government to make a concrete decision has not been met,” Mr Wabba noted.
However, the NLC president claimed that the federal government was hesitant to address the issues.
“As a result, the Central Working Committee has decided to hold a one-day national protest.”
“This is to draw the government’s attention to the need to resolve the issues as soon as possible.”
“We have also asked all of our affiliates to issue statements within the next week,” he added.
He stated that the decision to hold a one-day national protest was necessary because poor children had continued to stay at home.
He also stated that CWC had observed an increase in social vices, which could be attributed to youths being at home for months.
NLC threatens National Protest over lingering ASUU strike