President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba; former Senator and activist, Shehu Sani, and the Country Director of Actionaid Nigeria, Ene Obi, are leading hundreds of protesters in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, against the continued shutdown of Nigerian public universities.
As reported by Premium Times, the protesters, who had converged on the Unity Fountain, a popular protest ground in the capital city, stormed the National Assembly, chanting solidarity songs and carrying banners and placards bearing various inscriptions stating their demands.
It is the second day of the two-day nationwide protest declared by the NLC, the umbrella body of workers in Nigeria.
Various state chapters of the union had mobilised their members, parents and allies on Tuesday to kick off the two-day protest, even as they presented a list of demands to the state governors for onward delivery to President Muhammadu Buhari.
On Wednesday, as early as possible, protesters defied the precarious security situation in the capital city to demand the reopening of the universities. They said the more than five-month-old industrial action by the university workers is a contributory factor to the degenerating security situation across the country.
Joining the protest in Abuja are members of the national leadership of the striking university workers’ unions including the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Allied Institutions (NASU), and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), among others.
Leading the protest on Wednesday, Wabba urged participants not to relent until the goal of reclaiming the lost glory in Nigeria’s education, economic, health and other sectors are reclaimed.In response, the crowd chorused; “We would not be tired.”
“Save Teacher Education, Address Issues Now;” “We are Tired of Unfulfilled Promises,” among others, are some of the inscriptions on their banners.
Also conspicuous at the protest ground are members of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), who were also armed with placards and banners.
The common demands by all the striking unions include the rejection of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) as a payment platform for the workers.
They are also demanding better welfare for their members and improved funding for the university system.
The striking unions have consistently accused the Nigerian government of unfulfilled pledges, saying they could no longer bear the brunt of the neglect the nation’s education sector continues to suffer.
ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, said by the National Universities Commission (NUC’s) regulations, the ratio for lecturer to students is 1:9 in medical and sciences and 1:15 in the humanities and social sciences, but that the reality is unimaginable.
He said; “In the university today, there are 1 teacher to over 1,000 students. That’s what brought the earned academic allowance that they did not pay.
“So we need to let them know that they don’t have dominance over us. Universities are universal. Our universities used to have foreign students. You are a child of a governor, you sit and learn with the child of a driver. Eat in the cafeteria together. Stay in the same hostel. Today, it is not like that”.
He recalled how the government had agreed to pay a revitalisation fund of N200 billion yearly, but that it never did.
ASUU President accused a former Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Wale Babalakin, of attempting to commercialise education in Nigeria.
Babalakin, who led the negotiation team between the government and ASUU from 2017 to 2020, when he angrily resigned, was accused of highhandedness, but Babalakin has consistently denied this.
Osodeke added that his union’s protest against IPPIS has been proved right by the fraud allegations against the disgraced Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris.
“We have been vindicated by what happened to the accountant general,” said Mr Osodeke.
According to The Punch, the Nigeria Labour Congress and its affiliate unions on Wednesday in Abuja continued their solidarity protest in support of the five-month strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
Wabba, and the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, among others are currently leading the Day 2 protest in solidarity with ASUU in Abuja.
The unions defied warnings by the Federal Government and took to the streets of major cities in the country on Tuesday to protest against the failure of the Federal Government to resolve the five-month strike by ASUU
Specifically, the NLC said the money the two major political parties – the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party – generated from the sale of forms to aspirants could address ASUU’s demands.
The university lecturers had shut down public institutions on February 14 over the inability of the Federal Government to implement the agreements it made with ASUU in 2009 as well as the refusal of the current administration to exempt lecturers from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
ASUU had also asked the government to increase funding of tertiary institutions and pay outstanding allowances.
But on Wednesday, the protesters converged at the Unity Fountain and continued with the two-day protest in Abuja over the prolonged strike by university workers across the country.
This comes a day after a similar demonstration was held in various states of the Federation, except for the Federal Capital Territory.
The protest began at about 9:30 am after members of the NLC leadership and leaders of various affiliated unions, as well as members converged on the Unity Fountain in the nation’s capital.
Among those physically present were Wabba, Sowore, ASUU President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, and the immediate past President of ASUU, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, among others.
There was a heavy security presence at the venue of the protest comprising officers of the Nigeria Police, DSS, NSCDC, among others.
According to The Nation, the rally caused heavy gridlock on the roads leading to the National Assembly.
The Nation
Wabba said there would be no going back on its proposed national strike if the Federal Government fails to resolve the ongoing strike action in universities and other tertiary institutions.
He said the national strike action would be preceded by a three-day national protest.
Wabba said about N1.6 trillion spent by the elites to send their children to schools outside the country is enough to revamp education.
He said university lecturers were the poorest pain in Africa, which has led to a massive exodus of the best brains of the country to other countries.
The President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Sunday Asefon, said several promises to resolve the issue but none had been kept.
He urged that universities be opened immediately.
The Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, who was represented by Deputy Majority Leader, Senator Ajayi Borrofice, assured the National Assembly would work hard to ensure the issue is resolved.
Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, who was represented by, Hon Mohammed Wudil, promised to ensure that all relevant stakeholders would be brought together as soon as possible to address the problem.
Shehu Sani at the protest ground
NLC President Ayuba Wabba addressing protesting Union members at Unity fountain Abuja
