Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), ASUU and Students Protesting
In solidarity with the striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its affiliate unions begin a two-day nationwide protest on Tuesday. The ASUU strike, which is now over five months old, began on the 14th February, 2022.
The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, while appearing on a Channels Television show Sunrise daily on Tuesday, noted that the protest is to show concern and call for urgent action to resolve the issues on the lingering ASUU strike. He also threatened that if the Federal Government fails to meet the demands of ASUU, the NLC would embark on a three-day national warning strike.
“First is the national protest to call for attention and for the issues to be resolved promptly, and the next level is three days national warning strike if nothing has happened after the protest to show our grievances”, he said.
In different states across the country, members of the NLC, their affiliate unions, and students of tertiary institutions have trooped out in their numbers protesting against the ongoing ASUU strike. Protesters have been seen in Lagos, Oyo, Bauchi, Rivers, Edo, Kaduna, Gombe, Ondo, Plateau, Benue, Abia, among others, carrying placards with different inscriptions such as “Universitity education should not be for the rich alone the poor too deserve education”, “Let us change the narrative: make our UNIVERSITIES ONE OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD”, “Nigeria at 60 years of independence, “Stop importation of Petrol! revive the refineries!!”, all clamouring for the return of tertiary students back to their classrooms.
One of the protesters, Mr. Omololu shared with The Pendulum Media that, ‘the Federal Government has been quite insensitive to the demands of ASUU and unbothered about the students who have been at home for 5 months now,’ it is relieving now that the NLC have decided to support our plight; he added. Also, amidst the display of the placards, the police and other security operatives, found protesting across the country; Nigerian Lawyer and human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana was also seen protesting with the NLC members in Lagos State.
The protests across the states have caused gridlocks on major roads, all with the aim to get the attention of relevant stakeholders to meet the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
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