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From Emmanuel Adeyemi, Lokoja
In compliance with the directive of the national leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to embark on a two-day protest in support of the ongoing ASUU strike, the Kogi State chapter of the NLC on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest calling on the federal government to allow the students resume classes now while negotiation continues with striking unions
NLC described the federal government as wicked and Insensitive to the plights of the students and Unions in the nation’s Tertiary Institutions saying their indifference has caused a serious setback to the education of our youths.
Speaking at the Government House Lokoja, the NLC chairman, Onuh Edoka, represented by his vice, Simeon Opaluwa Eleojo, lamented that the federal government’s insensitivity has caused untold hardships to parents, the children who have been at home and the workers in the tertiary Institutions who are being owed for months.
He said as the future leaders of the nation, keeping the students at home has worsened the security situation in the country pointing out that an idle mind is usually the devil’s workshop, and called on the federal government to immediately return the students who have stayed at home for about six months back to school.
The NLC while appealing to the state governor to urgently intervene in the matter, said the federal government should immediately approve the UTAS payment system for the lecturers, pay outstanding salaries and reposition the universities.
Highlights of the peaceful protests were a march through the Stella Obasanjo Library to the Government House, where a letter was handed over to the state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who was represented by his deputy, Chief Edward Onoja, for onward delivery to the federal government.
