The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has given the Federal Government a four-week ultimatum to conclude all ongoing negotiations with unions in the nation’s tertiary education sector.
The NLC warned that failure to do so, would trigger nationwide industrial action involving all affiliated unions and workers.
NLC President, Joe Ajaero announced the ultimatum during an interactive session with journalists and a meeting between the NLC and leaders of tertiary institutions’ based unions at the NLC headquarters in Abuja.
According to Ajaero, although discussions with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) are ongoing, the issues plaguing the sector extend beyond ASUU alone and must be comprehensively addressed.
“We have decided to give the federal government four weeks to conclude all negotiations in this sector,” Ajaero stated. “If after four weeks there is no resolution, the National Executive Council (NEC) will convene, and we will initiate a nationwide action involving all unions and workers.”
He further criticized the Federal Government’s no-work-no-pay policy, describing it as a punitive measure against university staff who exercise their right to strike.
“You cannot punish workers for strikes that result from government’s failure to honour agreements,” he said. “We have found that over 90% of strike actions in this country are due to the government’s failure to implement signed agreements. That era of threats and broken promises is over.”
Nigeria’s university system is currently in turmoil, with institutions shut down due to an indefinite strike by ASUU. The industrial action followed the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum issued to the government on September 28.
ASUU National President, Professor Chris Piwuna, announced the strike during a press conference at the University of Abuja, citing unresolved issues related to staff welfare, infrastructure, salary arrears, and the implementation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement.
Despite recent negotiations, the strike could not be averted. Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, claimed talks had reached a final stage, pointing to the release of N50 billion for earned academic allowances and a proposed N150 billion in the 2025 budget for a needs assessment, to be disbursed in three instalments.
However, ASUU rejected these measures as inadequate. The union is demanding full implementation of the 2009 agreement, release of three-and-a-half months of withheld salaries, sustainable funding for universities, protection against victimisation, payment of outstanding promotion and salary arrears, and release of withheld deductions for cooperatives and union contributions.
