The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has added its voice to the ongoing industrial dispute between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), announcing plans for a two-day nationwide protest on Tuesday, July 26, in solidarity with the lecturers union’s strike action.
The planned protest is intended to put pressure on the Federal Government to conclude negotiations with striking university unions and ensure that public universities resume normal operations, among other things.
This disclosure is contained in a circular issued by the NLC to all state chairmen and signed by its National President, Ayuba Wabba, and General Secretary, Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja.
Wabba stated that the protest will be held in all states of the federation as well as Abuja on Wednesday, July 27, 2022.
What the NLC President is saying
The circular from Wabba begins, “We bring you fraternal greetings from the NLC’s national secretariat.”
“In accordance with the decisions of the NLC’s National Executive Council meeting on June 30, 2022, we have scheduled as follows the National Days of Protest to get our children back to school and support our unions in Nigeria’s public universities fighting for quality education.”
The protest would take place on “Tuesday, July 26, 2022, and Wednesday, July 27, 2022, in all states of the Federation and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory,” according to the circular.
The circular continued, “The NLC State Secretariats and the Labour House in Abuja are the starting points.” You are requested to convene your SAC meetings immediately in order to disseminate this information and fully mobilise workers in the states for this critical protest for good governance.”
What you should know
On February 14, 2022, ASUU began a four-week total and comprehensive strike to press their unresolved demands on the federal government.
ASUU extended its ongoing strike by another 12 weeks on May 9 to give the government enough time to satisfactorily resolve all outstanding issues following an extension on March 14 due to an alleged lack of seriousness on the part of the federal government.
The Federal Government Briggs renegotiation committee has been meeting with ASUU and other university labour unions since April 2022, who are all currently on strike due to a dispute with the government and the failure to resolve demands of the 2009 agreements signed with the federal government.
Also in June, the NLC announced plans to hold a nationwide protest against the deteriorating security situation, the ongoing ASUU strike, and the ongoing energy crisis.
