The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the government of the country are set for a fresh face-off over the prolonged strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other university-based unions.
University lecturers in Nigeria have been on strike for over five months with no end in sight.
ASUU’s demands include implementation of the 2020 Memorandum of Action (MoA) on funding for revitalisation of public universities, renegotiation of the 2009 federal government/ASUU agreement and the deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).
Meanwhile, the children of average Nigerians and the underprivileged have lost a semester, and there are fears they might end up losing a session, for no fault of theirs.
To pressure the government to resolve the strike, the NLC announced on 17 July that it would stage a nationwide protest on 26 and 27 July, 2022.
‘In line with the decision of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Nigerian Labour Congress held on 30th of June 2022, we have scheduled 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’, a statement by the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, read.
The Nigerian authorities have since come out to declare the planned protest ‘illegal’, citing a security report also by the Department of State Services (DSS).
In a statement, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, urged the NLC to reconsider the planned rally as hoodlums might take advantage of it to cause breach of security.
‘The masses might wrongly interpret the rally as a ploy by the NLC to enhance the chances of the Labour Party presidential candidate, a situation which could spur the supporters of the other political parties into violence’, the statement read.
ASUU and other university labour unions are affiliates of the NLC. The right to peaceful assembly and protest is also a fundamental human right as guaranteed by the United Nations (UN) Charter on Human and People’s right and the Nigerian constitution.
The revitalisation of the universities and improved welfare for lecturers are legitimate demands and should be treated as such by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. Many public universities have poorly equipped laboratories, dilapidated lecture halls and hostels.
The tendency of students who have lost interest in education due to the incessant strikes to move into crime-related activities such as cybercrime is high and this is why the Nigerian authorities need to acquiesce to ASUU’s demands rather than challenging NLC’s position.
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