UNIVERSITY STRIKE IS A NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT — ANAMBRA NLC CHAIR
REPORTER: UCHE NDEKE
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says the on-going impasse between the Federal Government and family in-house unions in the universities has become a national embarrassment, which must be addressed without further delay.
The Chairperson of the Congress in Anambra State, Comrade Chinwe Orizu, stated this during a peaceful protest held in Awka in compliance with the directive of the national body to register their dismay over the lingering strike, which had lasted for more than five months.
According to Orizu, the rally represents the first in the series of actions the Congress intends to take to compel the government to do the needful.
Comrade Orizu listed the concerns of the Congress.
They include immediate payment of the withheld salaries of university staff, suspension of IPPIS for salary payment, implementation of the agreements government reached with the unions or re-negotiation in good faith.
The labour leader also called for confidence between between the two parties and the establishment of a frame work for repositioning the universities for competitive service delivery and relevance in line with their mandate.
She noted that the NLC had among other initiatives written to the Ministers of Education, that of Labour and Employment as well as the presidency, which elicited insufficient response from government, hence the protest.
Comrade Orizu solicited the support and intervention of state governors to end the on-going strike, which has come at a huge cost to the students, the university staff, parents, the government, other stakeholders and the entire country.
In an interview, the Chairman of ASUU, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Dr. Stephen Ufoaroh, said the strike was not just for ASUU and other unions but about saving the university education in Nigeria and the citizens, asking for their rights to quality education is one of them.
Dr. Ufoaroh noted that the protest by Nigeria workers, irrespective of their union affiliation, was to support the struggle for the betterment of university system in Nigeria.
The five-month old strike, started by ASUU and later joined by NASU, SSANU and NAAT, is aimed at protesting against the failure of the Federal Government to honour and implement the agreements it voluntarily entered with various unions and the imposition of IPPIS as a means of payment.
EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU
