By John Ikani
The Nigeria Labour Congress has announced plans to commence a two-day nationwide protest on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, in solidarity with the ongoing strike action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
This was made known in a circular issued by the NLC to its state councils and affiliates dated July 15, 2022 and signed by its President and General Secretary, Ayuba Wabba and Emma Ugboaja, respectively.
The circular signed by the National President of the congress, Ayuba Wabba, partly read, “We bring you fraternal greetings from the national secretariat of the NLC.
“In line with the decisions of the National Executive Council meeting of the NLC held on June 30, 2022, we have scheduled as follows the National Days of Protest to get our children back to school and support our unions in Nigeria’s public universities fighting for quality education.”
According to the circular, the protest would be held on “Tuesday, July 26, 2022, and Wednesday, July 27, 2022, in all the states of the Federation and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
“Take-off point is the NLC State Secretariats and the Labour House, Abuja. You are requested to immediately convene the meetings of your SAC to disseminate this information and to fully mobilise workers in the states for this very important protest for good governance,” it added.
Why is ASUU on strike?
ASUU has been on strike since February to protest the federal government’s refusal to fulfill the agreements with the union since 2009.
Parts of the demand include the replacement of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) with the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS); the release of the reports of visitation panels to federal universities; and improved funding for the revitalisation of public universities and others.
