From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its affiliated unions on Tuesday joined the nationwide protest calling on the federal government to resolve the lingering industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The protesting workers including members of ASUU, Non-Academic Union of Allied and Education Institutions, (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), and Nigerian Union of Journalists took off from the OMPADEC field in Yenagoa and marched to the Government House.
The protesting workers escorted by armed Policemen in six vans were armed with placards with inscriptions such as “FG don’t wreck the future of our children”, “ASUU says no to subvention policy”, “No to politics with Education, end ASUU Strike”, “Education is a right, not a privilege”, and “A good government prioritise education before politics”.
The NLC Chairman, Mr John Ndiomu who addressed the workers declared that the working class are those suffering from the ASUU because they cannot afford to send their children abroad. He stated that the NLC would sustain its action to ensure the federal government fulfils the demands of ASUU.
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Also speaking the Bayelsa State Chairman of NASU, Comrade Otame Loko Alfred said they are tired of watching their children sit at home.
“This is our protest. Our children are out of school for too long. We are tired of our children staying at home. All that we are doing is a protest to ensure the government is forced to have a listening ear. We have three phases, after this if the government does not do anything, we are going to a three-day warning strike after which then we go for a full-fledged strike,” he said.
The NASU Chairman, Federal University of Otuoke, Ebhesi Godswill, threatened that workers would not allow the 2023 elections to hold if the federal government does not listen to the demand of ASUU and other workers.
“We are joining this protest because of the lukewarm attitude of the federal government to the plight of workers and students. We are tired of severally making them see the reason why they should fulfil the agreement reached with all unions, ASUU, NASU, and SSANU. Government should disband the Nimi Briggs renegotiation committee. In addition to this, to avoid strikes all that is due to university teachers should be included in their salaries. If these issues are not addressed, it would affect the 2023 elections, because workers won’t allow them to hold. We would continue this protest until the needful is done,” he said.