The protest which took off from the popular Unity Fountain is being attended by scores of protesters who wielded placards with several inscriptions such as “End ASUU Strike Now”, “Stop importation of petrol”, “refine the refineries’, “Nigeria at 60 years of independence, more hunger in the land”, etc.
Members of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) are currently protesting in Abuja, the nation's capital in, in solidarity with the strike action of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The protest which took off from the popular Unity Fountain is being attended by scores of protesters who wielded placards with several inscriptions such as “End ASUU Strike Now”, “Stop importation of petrol”, “refine the refineries’, “Nigeria at 60 years of independence, more hunger in the land”, etc.
The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, who addressed the crowd said the union would embark on a three-day warning strike if the Nigerian government fails to meet their demands and negotiate with the striking lecturers.
As of the time of this report, the protesters are heading for the National Assembly.
While speaking in an interview on Tuesday, the NLC President, Wabba, had first given a hint of a three-day nationwide strike after the mega protests.
“The two-day warning strike is to call for attention and the issues to be resolved promptly. The next level is three-day national warning strike, if nothing has happened after the protest to show our grievances,” he had said.
“These are democratic norms. Everywhere in the world, even as an individual you have the right to air your grievances. It is within the provision of our law; it is backed by UN charter for human and people rights; African charter for human and peoples right. It is there in our constitution — section 39, 40. Even the court has pronounced that you don’t require any permission. It is legal and within your fundamental human rights to protest issues.
“When people say it’s illegal, I think people should remember that no condition is permanent. We have had some of our current politicians join NLC to press for similar action in the past. We are not on a solidarity action, we are affected directly.”