Kwara NLC Joins National Body to Protest Continued ASUU Strike

Kwara State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Tuesday joined the national body of the union to stage a peaceful protest in major streets of Ilorin, the state capital, to press home their demand for the federal government to implement the demands of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). As early as 8 a.m., members of the union, which comprised NLC, ASUU, NASU, SANU and other allied unions, came out in large numbers to stage the peaceful protest that started at the state secretariat of the NLC in Ilorin. The security agencies (police, civil defence corps among others) were on ground to provide security for the protest so as to avoid being hijacked by unscrupulous elements of the society. The protesters were armed with placards with various inscriptions like: ‘There is only one way forward, honour our agreement’; ‘This is a national protest to get our children back to school’, among others. They moved across the major areas of Ilorin to educate the members of the public on the protest. Among the areas they passed through included Post Office, Challenge, A-Division Round About, and Government House, Ilorin, to submit their letter to the state government. Speaking with journalists at the NLC Secretariat in Ilorin, the state Chairman of the union, Aliyu Isa-Ore, said the rally was organised in solidarity with the ASUU members to press home their demand on the need for the federal government to honour their agreement. He said the federal government had signed an agreement with ASUU some year back on university revitalisation and other sundry issues, but without any implementation. Isa-Ore explained that if the federal government refuses to implement their demand after the rally, the union will go on a three-day warning strike. In their separate remarks, the Chairman of ASUU, University of Ilorin, Professor Moyosore Ajao, and the Chairman of the National Association of Academic Technologists Union, Awolola Femi, commended the NLC for supporting their cause. Prof Ajao noted that university workers’ demands was legitimate, adding that ASUU demands are long overdue and legitimate to deserve government attention. He said: "Let the government tell us which of our demands are not legitimate. We have the right to ask for what we deserve. "Is it our salary that has not been increased since last 13 years or our demand for the government to make infrastructure available? "We are not robots. Treat us like humans and save our children from idleness at home." The ASUU boss also explained that the struggle belongs to the entire country and not ASUU alone, calling on federal government to address the lingering strike to save students from becoming a public nuisance. He added that no nation can grow beyond its intellectual capacity, adding that Nigeria education deserves renaissance. Ajao also called for the enactment of law to ban Nigerians from schooling abroad in order to allow the Nigeria educational system to grow. Also, the Chairman, National Association of Academic Technologist, Unilorin chapter, Femi, said: “We are also affiliate member under NLC, and we are in support of the NLC because the government has shown so much insensitivity to the happenings in the university system.”