The Kogi state chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress, on Tuesday, staged a solidarity protest with the Academic Staff Union of Universities in line with the directive from the national body of the union.
Speaking at the Government House Lokoja, the NLC Chairman, Onuh Edoka, represented by his vice, Simeon Opaluwa Eleojo, said as parents who are paying the school fees of their children, they are feeling the pains of the federal government’s insensitivity which has caused untold hardship on parents and their children.
They also pointed out that the insensitivity on the part of the federal government to keep the students at home has worsened the nation’s insecurity.
He urged the federal government to quickly meet the demands of the tertiary institutions’ workers.
The NLC said that as the nation’s future leaders, keeping the students at home has added to the security threat the nation is currently facing, pointing out that an idle mind is usually the devil’s workshop.
He described the decision to keep mute over the workers’ demands as wicked and insensitive.
The union called on the federal government to immediately return the nation’s children who have been at home for six months to the classrooms, saying, “Enough is enough”.
The chapter disclosed that the strike action began on 14th February, 2022, requesting the intervention of the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, to call on the federal government.
The union explained that the strike action by the tertiary institutions workers was owing to the failure to meet the agreement reached and the dismay and reluctance of the Federal Government to meet with the agreement.
One of the highlights of the peaceful protests was a march through the Stella Obasanjo Library to the Government House, where a letter was handed over to the State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who was represented by his Deputy, Chief Edward Onoja, for onward delivery to the Federal Government.
