• Says no going back on Labour’s quest for political power in 2023
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
As concerns mount over the continued closure of the country’s federal universities, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has demanded immediate action by the federal government to end the dispute with striking university workers and reopen the institutions shut down close to six months now.
The union also said that it will not relent in its resolve to work in concert with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to support the Labour Party’s quest to win the presidential election in 2023.
Addressing journalists at the end of its National Executive Council meeting held in Abuja yesterday, TUC President, Festus Osifo, expressed dismay over the lingering face-off between federal government and university based unions which has resulted in the complete shut down of the institutions nationwide.
It also raised the alarm over detororiating state of security in the country, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to act decisively to prevent a situation where terrorists and bandits will become an occupation force.
In addition, TUC expressed opposition to the planned privatisation of government-owned hospitals, saying the move will worsen the hardship and sufferings the citizens were going through.
According to Osifo, the school closure was becoming an embarrassment to the country’s image.
“You will agree with me that where there is a will, there is always a way. Recently the Nigerian government spent about N1.4 billion to buy vehicles and donated to the Government of Niger.
“The kind of profligacy we have in government is too much. If government is serious, I can tell you that they will resolve this issue of ASUU within 48 hours.
“So it is not about the finances. How much do we pay today as far as fuel subsidy is concerned? And how much of that money actually gets to the masses. How much of that money is actually spent on us?
“Today if you see what goes through the budget. If you see the different budget heads. So it is a value that is placed on education. The value that is placed on our university system. That is why we are here today,” he said.
On insecurity, TUC said that the federal government should stop lamenting and take decisive action to arrest the dangerous situation.
Usifo further said that TUC x-rayed the poor state of the economy, especially growing expenditure on fuel subsidy.
He said that the union believes that the huge spending on fuel subsidy could be curtailed if the country’s porous borders are blocked.
According to him, a huge amount of money will be saved from curtailing subsidy and it can be used to fix our education sector.
“So this shows that out of the trillions of Naira we spent the subsidy, a substantial part of it ended up in subsidising the entire West Africa Sub-region. If the only thing government can do is to manage the border or secure the border, you are going to reduce the quantity of products that we consume on a daily basis,” he said.
