The Federal Government and labour unions on Wednesday clashed over the groups’ refusal to back down on its planned two-day nationwide protests scheduled for July 26 and 27.
No fewer than 40 unions, including the aviation workers will participate in the rally called in solidarity with the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU), which has shut down public universities since February 14 over the failure of the government to meet its demands.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday said the protest was illegal since the Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC), had no pending disputes with the government but the congress retorted that it would go on with the protest, saying the freedom to protest is guaranteed by the constitution.
ASUU had embarked on a one-month warning strike on February 14 to press home its demand for the implementation of the October 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement.
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions and National Association of Academic Technologists later joined the industrial action.
In May, the ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, announced the extension of the three-month prolonged strike by an additional three months.
In reaction, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said in March that the government had paid over N92bn, including N40bn for earned academic allowances for ASUU and other unions and N30b for university revitalisation as part of the implementation of the agreement reached with the union in December 2020.
The FG also reconstituted a team to renegotiate the 2009 agreement it had with the varsity teachers. The team was headed by Pro-Chancellor, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo, Prof Nimi Briggs.
To fast-track the resolution of the crisis, President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, directed the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, to resolve the five-month strike within two weeks and report back to him.
In solidarity with ASUU, the NLC on July 17 announced that it would kick off a nationwide protest to pressure the Federal Government to resolve the crisis in the tertiary education sector.
But addressing State House correspondents after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by the President, the Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, accused the congress of being motivated by partisan interests, saying it was supposed to be “completely insulated from politics.”
He said, “The NLC is not a political party. The NLC can go on strike or protest if the rights of the NLC members are involved. What the NLC is planning in the next few days is about interest. There’s no dispute whatsoever between NLC as a body with the Federal Government.
“Well yes, there’s a dispute between some members of the NLC, ASUU and the Federal Government, which is being looked into. And NLC itself is a party to the committee that is looking into the solution.
“So, calling out people on street protest; you begin to wonder, what is the motive of the NLC in this matter? But you see here, we do not interrogate what the NLC is doing. The NLC by its own laws cannot even give out pamphlets. And the NLC is supposed to be completely insulated from politics.”
Fielding questions about plans by aviation workers to join the strike in solidarity with ASUU, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said such a move should not be contemplated as it would put lives at risk.
“I’m naturally concerned about this if the aviation union will shut down in support of ASUU. I would say they have no need to. This is democracy. You can push for demands. But in pressing for demands, you should be reasonable in doing so; where lives can be lost because of your own activity. I think it should be reconsidered.
“So, civil aviation workers should not be part of this. We’ve spoken to them and I don’t think they will join because they know that there’s a huge responsibility for lives on their heads.
“I believe that they are very aware of the enormous responsibility upon them in civil aviation and they should continue to see it so and continue to be as law-abiding as we want them to be,” Sirika said.
In a separate briefing, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, said he had proposed one week to resolve the FG-ASUU faceoff but the education minister volunteered to resolve the issues in two weeks.
He also debunked reports that the President asked him to steer clear of the negotiations saying “the truth of the matter is there is no such thing, it’s just categorically untrue. There is nothing like a hands-off.”
Also, the Federal Ministry of Education described as unreasonable the plan by the NLC to embark on a two-day solidarity protest despite the directive of the President to the education minister to end the lingering strike in two weeks.
