The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has warned the Federal Government to up brace for a three-day nationwide strike across all sectors if the crisis in the nation’s public universities is left unresolved.
NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, gave the warning on Tuesday during his appearance on Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily, amid the protest by members of the union across the country.
“The protest first is to show our concern and to also call for urgent action to resolve the issues. We took two levels of decision,” he said while highlighting the importance of the protest.
“First is the national protest to call for attention and for the issues to be resolved promptly, and the next level is three days national warning strike if nothing has happened after the protest to show our grievances.”
Members of the NLC across the country trooped to the major streets of the state capital of their respective branches in protest against the prolonged strike by university workers.
The national leadership of the union is expected to join the demonstration in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Wednesday, a day after it began in all 36 states of the Federation.
University workers, including members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Association of Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU), and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), had gone on strike for various reasons.
While the Federal Government said the decision of the NLC to embark on a nationwide protest was illegal, the leadership of the union insisted that its action was within the ambit of the law.