NLC Protest: What We Would Do Next If FG Fails To Meet The Demands Of Striking Lecturers

The Union president, Ayuba Waba stated this during an interview on Channel's Television Show, Sunrise Daily on Tuesday.

Scores of unions in various critical sectors such as aviation, electricity, and petroleum among others, are affiliated with the labour union.

"The protest first is to show our concern and to also call for urgent action to resolve the issues. We took two levels of decision,ÔÇØ he said while highlighting the importance of the protest.

"First is the national protest to call for attention and for the issues to be resolved promptly, and the next level is three days national warning strike if nothing has happened after the protest to show our grievances.ÔÇØ

NLC on Tuesday across the states in the country, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) took to streets to protest against the continued strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

University workers, including members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Association of Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU), and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), also across the states of the federation joined during the protests.

While the Federal Government said the decision of the NLC to embark on a nationwide protest was illegal, the leadership of the union insisted that its action was within the ambit of the law.

"These are democratic norms everywhere around the law,ÔÇØ Wabba stated. "It is within the provisions of our law; it is backed by UN Charter for Human and People's Rights, African Charter for Human and People's Rights.

"It is there in our constitution - Section 39/40, and even the courts have pronounced that you don't require any permission; so it is legal, it is within your fundamental rights to protest.ÔÇØ

ASUU had cited poor funding of universities, adoption of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) of the government as the payment system in the university sector and non-payment of salaries and allowances of some of their colleagues, among other issues as the reason for the strike.

Recall that since the industrial action began on Feb 14, several negotiations between the union and the government have ended in deadlock.