(UPDATE) STRIKE: FALANA JOINS NLC PROTEST IN LAGOS, DEMANDS QUALITY EDUCATION
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
*Protesters deliver message to Gov. Sanwo-Olu*
On Tuesday, the NLC, SANU, ASUU, and NASU members gathered in Ikeja for a Nationwide peaceful protest.
The protest started at about 7:30 a.m. at the Ikeja Underbridge, members of the union and its affiliates which included the Academic Staff of Nigerian Universities (ASUU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Allied Institutions (NASU), National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), taking part in the action.
The demonstrators made their way on foot from Ikeja’s Underbridge to the government secretariat at Alausa.
Many of the demonstrators held signs that read, “Stop the theft, tax the rich, and support the poor,” “Recall all dismissed lecturers,” and other messages. Change the narrative by elevating our colleges to the top of the world. Among others, “IPPIS undermines our universities; adopt UTAS today.”
The human rights Mr Femi Falana, who also participated in the rally, claimed that the quality of life under the leadership of Muhammad Buhari is “becoming worse by the day.”
According to Mr. Falana, while the president is “junketing” around the globe, Nigerians are suffering under the current government.
He said, “Buhari must leave.”
He claimed that the battle is for quality education.
The protesters were still in attendance at the government secretariat at midday to send a letter to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu for President Buhari to receive.
The content of the letter reads in part, “We bring you our warm compliments. Your Excellency, we write to solicit your support and intervention in the matter between the federal government and the unions in the tertiary education subsector. This dispute has manifested in a strike action for the past five months and has come at a huge cost to the students, the university staff, parents, the government, other stakeholders and the entire country.
The strike, as you already know, is over the non-observance by government of the agreements it voluntarily entered in with the unions. It has also been about the imposition of IPPS on the university union to which they have taken objection with credible reasons
Your Excellency, we are dismayed by the federal government’s paralysis and reluctance to take the necessary steps that could lead to the peaceful resolution of the issues in dispute and, by extension, end the strike
On our part, we have taken various initiatives to end this strike, including writing to the Ministries of Education and Labour and Employment and the presidency. Although this elicited some response from government. It was tokenistic and not sufficient.
In response to the nonchalance of government and cries of our unions in the sector to escalate our intervention, Congress resolved to hold rallies as the 36 states of the federation and FCT.
Your Excellency, the rally held today in the state is in compliance with the resolution of the Congress represents the first in the series of actions Congress intends to take to take to compel the government to do the needful.
However, we find it appropriate to appeal to you to use your good offices and good conscience to get the federal to bring to an end this strike action.
The immediate concern would be the immediate payment of the withheld salaries of university staff, shelve IPPIS, honour the agreements government entered into or re negotiate in good faith, rebuild confidences, establish a frame work for repositioning our universities for competitive service delivery and relevance in line with their mandate.
Your Excellency, this matter, we dare say, is of grave importance national, hence this appeal to you.
While we await your response,
We remain faithfully yours,
However, Nigerian university workers under their various unions including the Academic Staff of Nigerian Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Allied Institutions (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), have embarked on strike to protest what they termed poor funding of universities and poor welfare conditions.
ASUU, which commenced its nationwide industrial action on February 14, has continued to roll it over for more than five months.
The union had rejected the introduction of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) as a payment platform for the workers as introduced by the government and sought its replacement with University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of both SSANU and NASU has also rejected IPPIS, even as it presented an alternative said to have also been developed by its members to the government.
Government steps up resolution efforts
President Muhammadu Buhari last week ordered the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, to step down from negotiation with the striking workers to allow his Education Ministry counterpart, Adamu Adamu, to take over.
Mr Adamu, during the joint presentation of negotiation progress report to President Muhammadu Buhari, had explained the reason for his aloofness since the workers’ strike commenced and pledged to fast track the process of the resolution.
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