The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday called on its members and civil society groups in Lagos to come out en-masse on Tuesday morning to begin a two-day protest in solidarity with striking lecturers.
Funmi Sessi, state chairman of NLC, gave the directive at a stakeholders’ meeting at the union’s secretariat in Yaba, Lagos.
“We will be converging as early as 6:30 a.m. at Ikeja and take off by 7:00 a.m. to deliver a letter to Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu in Alausa.
“The protest is to support ASUU in the ongoing strike, so we call on all affiliate members to come out en masse,” she said.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been on strike since February 14 over the federal government’s failure to honour some past agreements, among other issues.
Ms Sessi directed all sectors, including the health, electricity and aviation, to shut down operations and join the solidarity protest in support of the striking workers but advised nurses to attend to only emergency cases.
She called on Lagos state-owned tertiary institutions to join the protests, adding “We are going to mobilise our members and be fully on the street.”
ASUU zonal coordinator, Lagos State, Adelaja Odukoya, said the protest was for the liberation of the nation’s tertiary education.
“Enough is enough; the government must fund the education system. If Nigeria must develop, attention must be paid to our university education,” he said.
Other union members took turns to lament ill-treatment and injustice meted out on the lecturers and the nation’s education sector.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, had urged the NLC to shelve the nationwide planned protest in solidarity with the trade unions.
(NAN)