The threat by the Nigeria Labour Congress to embark on a nationwide protest in solidarity with the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities may be the panacea for the protracted strike by the university lecturers, Vanessa Obioha writes
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) last Sunday announced that it would embark on a nationwide protest on July 26 and 27 to compel the federal government to resolve the over five-month-old strike that has kept students in public universities at home. In a circular signed by its President, Mr. Ayuba Wabba and General Secretary, Mr. Emmanuel Ugboaja, to its Chairpersons and Secretaries of State Councils, the union said the decision was in line with the resolutions of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the body on June 30.
The labour union had barely concluded the announcement when it received strong support from the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE), which also promised that it would shut down the banks in the country.
Also, aviation workers’ unions led by the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) in separate statements said they would support the position of the NLC by shutting down the country’s airspace on July 26 and 27, 2022.
ASUU and other trade unions in the education sector have been on strike for more than five months over the alleged failure of the federal government to keep to the agreement entered with the unions. The union had accused the government of failing to implement the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Memorandum of Action (MoA) signed by both parties.
The demands of the striking workers include funding of universities, as well as increasing salaries and earned allowances of lecturers.
The union is also protesting the government’s poor commitment to the payment of academic earned allowances and the continued use of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS). The lecturers are also unhappy with the refusal of the government to adopt the Universities Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), and curb the proliferation of universities in the country.
The three other unions that embarked on strike are the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU); the Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).
ASUU has always maintained that the strike action was its last resort. It had on called on Nigerians to engage the federal government on issues it said are currently threatening the industrial peace in public universities. It had equally noted that the Nigerian government has refused to implement the MoA that led to the suspension of its nine-month prolonged strike in 2020.
Since the strike commenced, the federal government has not shown enough sincerity of purpose in addressing the issues raised by the striking teachers. It has continued to invent excuses to explain its inability to meet ASUU’s demands.
Students mostly bear the brunt of the strike. Some of them have fallen victim to rape and other criminal activities in the country; and their youthful energies are wasted at home. Part of the consequences of these regular strike actions is the frequent disruptions in the academic calendars of universities. Programmes that are designed to run for four years sometimes run for five or six years for a student without a record of failure. It is worse for those whose courses run longer than four years. They end up staying on campus close to a decade. It is thus sheer agony when they finally graduate to join the labour force, given the fact that the entry-level age requirement for many graduate jobs is 26 years.
Stakeholders have also raised concerns about the incessant strike action, considering its heavy toll on the academic pursuit of students in public tertiary institutions. They had appealed to the government to dialogue with ASUU and resolve all outstanding issues amicably as well as honour all agreements reached with the union.
What could have been a sigh of relief when reports emerged on Tuesday that President Muhammadu Buhari gave a two-week ultimatum to the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, to end the impasse with varsity unions after meeting with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), was denied by the presidency.
But responding to the NLC, the federal government on Wednesday said its decision to embark on protests was unlawful. It claimed that the planned protest was a plot to create anarchy in the country.
Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed, who briefed State House Correspondents after the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, claimed that the NLC was taking sides with ASUU and acting as a political party. He queried the right of the union to embark on the protest when it had no industrial dispute with the federal government.
When reminded that the prolonged strike had grounded academic activities in universities and was affecting the children of members of the NLC as well, the minister said government was equally worried. He argued that rather than call out a mass protest, the NLC should partner to find solution to the crisis.
“They are part of the tripartite agreement that have been negotiating with the federal government on this ASUU issue. So, why are they now going out to take sides? How does that solve the problem? What you are going to create is more anarchy. And I think the NLC should think twice about their proposed strike in solidarity with ASUU.”
Also reacting, the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, expressed concerns with plans by aviation sector unions to shut the airspace. He said grounding aviation sector assets as planned by the unions would compromise safety and security of air travellers and the country.
“I’m naturally concerned about this if the aviation union will shut down in support of ASUU. I would say they have no need to… this is democracy, you can push for demands but in pressing for demands you should be reasonable in doing so. So, civil aviation workers, I think should not be part of this. Yes, I am concerned and yes we’ve spoken to them and I don’t think they will join because they know that there’s huge responsibility of lives on their heads. If you’re an air traffic controller, it involves national security; it involves the capability of preventing external aggression and so on so forth.” From the reaction of the federal government to the threat by the NLC, it is evident that government is worried. With the threat by the aviation unions and banks to join in solidarity, the government should now understand that the economy is under the threat and quickly address ASUU’s demands. Officials of the federal government play politics with ASUU’s demands simply because their own children are schooling in the best schools in the UK and United States.
Tackling the federal government, the NLC said it is well within its rights to protest against the continued stay of students at home, following failure of the authorities to reach an agreement with ASUU. It noted that all the four trade unions involved in the university strike are affiliates of NLC.
It emphasised that all peaceful assembly are lawful and does not require any permission under the law. According to the labour union, in a democratic society such statement as was uttered by the minister is not consistent with the rule of law.
“It is elementary knowledge, that the right to peaceful assembly and protest is fundamental global right guaranteed by the UN charter on Human and People’s right and the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria.”
“All the four trade unions involved are affiliates of NLC. Secondly as citizens, our children have been out of school for 5 months, majority are children of working class and the less privileged, this alone should call for urgent action,” Wabba explained in another statement.
Now that other unions have threatened to join ASUU, the government should now know the seriousness of the negative impact of the prolonged strike.
But will the NLC and other unions allow themselves to be cowed by the federal government? This is the question many observers are also asking the unions. Nigerians are watching.
