Members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and other national labour unions Wednesday continued their solidarity protest in the Federal Capital Territory to support the strike action of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other unions in tertiary institutions.
The protest, which is ongoing at the Unity Fountain in Abuja is led by the NLC president, Ayuba Wabba. Other prominent persons in attendance include; ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke; the immediate past President of ASUU, Biodun Ogunyemi; presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore; among several others.
The protesters plan to march to the National Assembly to deliver their message to lawmakers. They want the Nigerian government to implement all agreements entered with all unions of various academic institutions so that students who have been at home for more than five months can return to school.
Read also: ASUU strike: Labour begins nationwide solidarity protest
Some of the placards held by the protesters read, “Nigeria polytechnic lecturers deserve a living wage”, “Respect Agreements: Implement Resolutions with ASUP”, “Stop bullying us, address issues “, among others.
The protesters are heavily guarded by security operatives drawn from the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Security Services, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
For more than five months, students have been grounded at home due to the failure of government honour agreements it entered with ASUU . Other unions are also threatening to go on strike such as the Academic staff union of polytechnics and the colleges of education academic staff union.
ASUU maintains that it will not end the strike until the federal government implements its 2009 renegotiated agreement, which they note is expected to improve the quality of university education in Nigeria. Some of the demands of the union include; release of funds to revitalise universities, payment of outstanding allowances and salaries to lectures, among others.
The two-day protest started yesterday, July 26, in Lagos, Oyo and other states. The NLC has threatened to embark on a three-day warning strike If government still refused to do the needful immediately after the protest.
