The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Academic Staff Union of Universities have joined forces to push for a long-term solution to the persistent volatility in the nation’s university academic calendar.
The administration was given a four-week deadline by the Nigeria Labour Congress to wrap up talks with all academic and non-academic unions in higher education.
The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics, among others, met with labour on Monday to discuss the ongoing university strike and other issues brought up by employees in postsecondary institutions across the country.
In order to identify long-term answers to problems arising from unsuccessful discussions with the federal government, the Nigerian Labour Congress had summoned all union representatives from various postsecondary educational institutions around the country to a meeting.
Chronic instability has plagued Nigeria’s higher education system, most recently resulting in university closures across the country as a result of the ongoing ASUU strike.
Recall that after a 14-day ultimatum to the government expired on September 28, ASUU National President Professor Chris Piwuna declared the strike during a news conference at the University of Abuja on Sunday. The union listed unsolved concerns about infrastructure, salary arrears, employee welfare, and the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement’s execution.
Recent weeks of negotiations have not prevented industrial action. Two weeks ago, Education Minister Tunji Alausa announced that negotiations had reached a final stage, pointing out that the government had released N50 billion for earned academic allowances and set aside N150 billion in the 2025 budget for a needs assessment that would be paid out in three installments. ASUU, however, condemned these actions as inadequate.
The union is requesting that the 2009 agreement be fully implemented, that three and a half months of withheld salaries be released, that universities receive sustainable funding, that victims be protected, that unpaid promotions and salary arrears be paid, and that withheld deductions for cooperatives and union contributions be released.
Following this, the Nigerian Labour Congress called for active participation from all union leaders and reaffirmed its complete solidarity with ASUU and other tertiary education unions. Additionally, it emphasised the idea of the opposite position, “No Pay, No Work,” which calls on the government to uphold collective bargaining agreements and respect workers’ rights.
Briefing journalists at the end of the meeting, the national president of the NLC, Joe Ajaero said, “We have decided to give the federal government four weeks to conclude all negotiation in this sector. They have started talks with ASUU but the problem in this sector goes beyond ASUU.
“That is why we are extending this to four weeks. If after four weeks this negotiation is not concluded, the organs of the NEC will meet and take a nationwide action that all workers in the country, all unions in the country will be involved so that we get to the root of all this.
“The era of signing agreements, negotiations and threatening the unions involved, that era has come to an end.”
Labour further blasted the government over the no-work-no-pay policy, which was instituted as a sanction against the striking members of ASUU.
“The policy, the so-called policy of no work, no pay, will henceforth be no pay, no work. You can’t benefit from an action you instigated. We have discovered that most, 90 per cent of strike actions in this country, are caused by failure to obey agreements,” Ajaero said.
He said, “we would no longer accept a situation where government will appoint its representatives to a meeting. You ask them whether they have a mandate to negotiate on the part of government. They say yes, only for them to turn back and bring to that same table
offers that were totally out of what you had agreed with them, claiming that that is what their principal gave them.
“We will fully back the Nigerian Labour Congress in ensuring that that era where people would say they have mandates and turn around to bring to you alien documents to an agreement is totally over.
“We are willing to work with all our comrades to ensure that government does not take our unions for granted anymore and that government gives education the attention that it rightly deserves.”
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