The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Abubakar Wabba has urged the Federal Government (FG) to ensure that they meet the demand of the Joint Action Committee, which they mutually agreed on and documented.
Wabba who spoke while addressing a peaceful protest organised by the JAC decried the nation’s educational system, adding that the government must ensure all hand is on deck to fulfil the promise they made with the JAC.
He also said that it is needful for FG to focus on nation’s educational system.
“Everything possible needs to be done for this sector because of our future generations”.
“So it must be a priority of government and all stakeholders. We must also ensure that the right thing is done,” he said.
Wabba said the strike would continue until justice is done, as FG is known on reneging on promises made with the university workers.
JAC, have been on strike since December 4, 2017 due to owed allowances in accordance with the agreement signed between the government and the unions.
National President of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Chairman of the Joint Action Committee Samson Ugokwe said the rally was organised to sensitise the citizens on reasons why they went on strike and sought the intervention of the National Assembly to address the workers’ demand.
He said: “We need to let the National Assembly know why we are sad. We need to let them know and sensitise them on the injustices that is going on in the universities’ system. We need to let them know the plight of the Nigerian universities and also workers in the system.
“We want them to come in and investigate the universities and find out why our graduates are not employable. We are not pleased about the state of affairs and strongly believe that with your intervention, all matters that led to the current industrial action of the Joint Action Committee unions shall be address.
“We also deem it imperative to humbly draw the attention of his excellency to the ongoing strike action embarked upon by the non-teaching staff unions based on our demands for the full and proper implementation of our 2009 agreement. We have also had several meetings with the Federal Government.”
Former Yobe State Governor, Bukar Aba-Ibrahim, who received the protesting workers on behalf of the Senate President, assured them that the Senate will intervene and ensure that they were paid what they were entitled to.
He assured them that the lawmakers were solidly behind the fight against corruption and would support the fight against corruption in the universities.
Senator Shehu Sani assured them that he would pursue their demands to logical conclusion”.
Director of Tertiary Education Joel Ojo, who received the protesters at the Federal Ministry of Education, said the ministry was doing all to ensure that the issues affecting the university system were resolved.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) is the umbrella body for Senior Staff Association Nigerian Universities (SSANU), National Association of Academic Technologists and Non-Academic Student Union (NASU).
