Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has faulted the assertion by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Folasade Yemi-Esan that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is not a registered trade union.
In a statement issued on Thursday by NLC President Ayuba Wabba, the Congress said that contrary to the position expressed by the Head of Service
ASUU is a trade union affiliated to the NLC.
NLC quoted Yemi Esan as having said at a Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council Meeting, that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is not a trade union.
“We find this claim as a misrepresentation of facts.
For the purpose of setting the records straight, the Nigeria Labour Congress wishes to disclaim the misleading statement by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation on the status of ASUU as an organisation.
“The Academic Staff Union of Universities formed in 1978 was a successor body to the Nigerian Association of University Teachers formed in 1965. Since its formation, ASUU is a trade union affiliated to the NLC,” he said.
Wabba said that the founding President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Hassan Sunmonu currently serves as one of the National Trustees of ASUU.
According to him, the history of ASUU as a trade union has been that of struggles.
He said the persistent demand and activism by ASUU for wage and social justice has seen the union and its members come under very heavy shellacking by successive governments in Nigeria.
‘It is truly sad that such a pan-Nigerian and progressive union composed of some of the very best intellectuals in Nigeria could be easily dismissed as not being a trade union by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
“Whatever Yemi-Esan wants to achieve with such a fallacious claim is difficult to discern.
We implore the ASUU which has been the intellectual backbone of Organized Labour and workers in Nigeria to ignore the disparaging claims by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
“Yemi-Esan is not well informed of the claims she made as she is not a competent authority to assert on trade union registration and indeed ancillary trade union concerns in Nigeria. We also urge Nigerian workers and other well-meaning members of the public to ignore her comments,” he said.
