Nigeria Labour Congress workers strike in solidarity with university industrial action

Abuja, Nigeria – The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have issued a warning to the Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, that workers all over the country may go on a strike in solidarity with affiliate unions, such as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Non-Academic Staff Union of University and Allied Institutions (NASU), as well as the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU).

On 14 February 2022, Nigeria university lecturers went on strike, and as of today, the government has failed to reach an agreement with the staff union, resulting in students being stranded and not in education.

The ASUU says it is protesting over the government’s refusal to fulfil a 2009 agreement which included a better welfare package and improved facilities for universities across Nigeria. It also wants the government to adopt the University Transparency and Accountability Solution [UTAS] for payment of its members’ salaries.

The current strike comes after a 10-month strike in 2020. National affairs analyst Alausa Issa Sanni says the strike is bringing “idleness to young people”. “The danger is that we will have potential students becoming uninterested in education. Many have already lost interest, and it leaves the country in a shaky place.”

The President of NLC, Ayuba Wabba, while responding to journalists’ questions at the ongoing 18th NLC Rain School, 2022, confirms labour’s readiness to gather its teaming members across Nigeria for a nationwide two-day warning strike in all the 36 states of the federation and Abuja, in demand for the Federal Government to resolve all the lingering issues that have kept education institutions closed for five months.

The strike is having a heavy impact on not only academic students and workers, but many other stakeholders. The strike has crippled small businesses that depend on students. Seun Obileye, 39, who runs a cafe on the UNILAG (University of Lagos) campus, said, “There are chain reactions. Lecturers went on strike, students left university campuses, and our business suffered. There was nothing to do other than close down.”

After a two-day warning strike, Mr Wabba confirmed that a three days strike will immediately follow after the protest and may have to go on indefinitely if the government fails to resolve the issues that caused the university strike.

He said, “The protest is not a solidarity protest but a protest of NLC against government actions that lead to our universities being shut down and our kids staying at home instead of going to school. All the unions directly involved in the strike are NLC affiliates, and their members are part of NLC.

“We have taken three levels of decision. First is the protest which is going to be national tomorrow. After the protest, three days national warning strike will start, and if they fail to resolve the issues and bring back our kids to school, we will go on indefinite strike. That is the decision of our National executive council, and what will be helpful for them is to check the timeline we have given for them to resolve the issues. We are optimistic that they will be willing this time because we are also willing to get our children back to school.”