NLC on Friday called on the Federal Government to implement all agreements with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)
By Eugene Onyeji
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Friday called on the Federal Government to implement all agreements with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), specifically, on the re-negotiated 2009 FG-ASUU agreement, to protect the future of Nigerian youths.
Following the refusal of the Federal Government to honour the terms of the re-negotiated 2009 agreement with ASUU signed since May 2021, the union again declared an indefinite nationwide strike beginning last Monday.
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Concerned about the lingering disagreement, NLC President Comrade Ayuba Wabba, in a statement, said: “On the ongoing warning strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), we wish to state that the current industrial impasse is very unfortunate.
“The issues in contention include the 2009 Re-negotiated Agreement. The Federal Government took the draft Agreement and promised to consult and return to conclude the signing. The Federal Government is yet to conclude the signing of the agreement. Also, the government is yet to honour the terms reached at the May 2021 Agreement signed with ASUU.
“In order to protect the future of our youths whose academic life is being disrupted, we urge the Federal Government to implement all the agreements it entered with ASUU. Specifically, we call on the government to sign the re-negotiated agreement with ASUU.
“Furthermore, President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier directed that a Federal Government team should meet with ASUU to resolve all the outstanding issues. We call on relevant MDAs to ensure that Mr. President’s directive is discharged immediately to end the stalemate.”
“We understand that the current situation is as a result of petroleum products hoarding. We call on all petrol marketers to show sensitivity to the difficulties faced by the generality of Nigerians and ensure prompt discharge of petrol to consumers.
“We also call on relevant regulatory agencies of government to rein in the activities of unscrupulous petroleum products marketers who go devilish miles to make dishonest gains and at the detriment of their fellow citizens. We also state that this situation reinforces our argument for domestic refining of petroleum,” the NLC said.
NLC urged relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to ensure that President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that the government team should be resolved was discharged immediately to end the stalemate.