The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged Nigerian workers to rise and resist a system which has consistently expose them to suffering under the burden of present political and financial corruption of the ruling class.
While describing the government of President Muhammadu Buhari as unfriendly to workers, Ayo Akinwole, Chairman University of Ibadan Chapter of the Union asked the Nigeria workers to resist from being used to terrorize themselves through the adoption of divide and rule by the government.
In a May Day press statement signed by Akinwole entitled “for still surviving in a country that lacks workers’ friendly government; Nigerian workers deserve a salute” lashed out at the current Buhari administration whose anti-workers policy he claimed has “made Nigerian workers poorer.
“There is increasing rise in prices of commodities and services. We therefore then salute the courage of Nigerian workers to dare the odds and survive the precarious conditions under this administration
“On this day, we observe moments of silence for the Nigerian people and workers who have been victims of terrorism and brutality of the ruling administration. We stand still for women and girls who are victims of rape and sexual enslavement. Today, we remember the thousands of Nigerians who have been buried in mass and unmarked graves, with no opportunity by family and loved ones to bid them farewell; we share the grief of parents who are in mourning over their dead and missing children.
“It is sad to note that in the face of the enduring grief and hopelessness of Nigerians, the political class is in a frenzy of political carnivals. God shall indeed judge the wicked.”
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Apparently describing the current administration as a failure, Akinwole said “Nigerian people have been abandoned to the elements, to bandits and terrorists, to disease and scarcity. They are fed with words on empty stomachs and are nourished with promises that are never kept. Excuses are the strong points of policy makers and the past is waved in their workers faces to justify the failures of the present. The future is being ravaged daily by a political class, knowing what they have done; fear that the country is at the last throes of death.”
Akinwole noted that Nigeria “is a fiefdom of competing warlords, assemblage of official certified terrorists, carnivals of jesters and bands of thieves dressed in costumes and bemusing titular inanities”.
Traditional rulers in Nigeria, he pointed out, with this situation look away while their people suffer while religious leaders have become “chattered prophets, prayer contractors, ministers of their own bellies and priests of violence.”
Akinwole however asked Nigerians to decide to elect in 2023 a leader who can protect them and not to elect someone on the basis of zoning or regional presidency but rather focus on competence of the person who is capable to rid the land of injustices.
“This administration has failed Nigerians in the following ways: Non implementation of minimum wage policy of the government by all the states; Inappropriate payment platform of salary which denies workers the opportunity to plan for the future; Embargo on employment in federal Universities has turned workers to slaves; workers have become hopeless because there is no succession plan; High level of insecurity has negatively affected safety of life and properties; Political instability in Nigeria – more than ever before this government polarized the country along religion and ethnicity; Citizenship in the Nigerian state has been compromised due to wrong attitude of government that does not see the need to promote integration; The current administration lacks the capacity to unite the country and provide needed forum for the future; and Our youth have become negatively aggressive and have given in to moral lapses.”
ASUU therefore asked President Muhammadu Buhari to toe the path of honour and sign the already renegotiated agreements which will improve the working conditions and make our universities look like a real knowledge ecosystem.
“We call on the Federal Government to follow the path of honour and integrity by implementing its agreements with ASUU. It is instructive that the Minister of Labour and Minister of State for Education who are critical to the resolution of the ongoing dispute between ASUU and the Federal Government of Nigeria have abandoned their offices to engage in campaign for the Presidential tickets of their party. Isn’t this instructive about the kind of leaders they will be if they become presidents? Moreover, Nigerians need to ask how they raised N100 m for party forms given the fact that their legitimate earnings from actual work done by both of them do not amount to the sum of the ticket if accumulated over five years.
