The Rivers State Chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) on Tuesday organised a protest to the Rivers State Government House Port Harcourt.
The NLC led protest is part of a two days protest called by the national body in a solidarity strike with university lecturers who has been on strike for over five months in protest against the federal government failure to implement the 1999 agreement reached with the union.
The university lecturers are also protesting against the FG through the ministry of finance insistence that the university lecturers be included in the IPPIS (Integrated payroll and personnel information system), while the lecturers have suggested it’s own system UTAS(University Transparency Accountability Solution) for salaries.
The protest which is currently going on in the 36 states of the federation and the FCT is joined by other affiliates of the NLC including PENGASSON, NUPENG, Civil Servants etc.
The success of the protest in Rivers State and the involvement of the civil servants and members of ASUU in the state is happening against the directive of the Head of Service asking state civil servants not to be involved in the protest as the Rivers government is said to have met demands of the state owned universities and their lecturers.
Clariform reports that the lecturers at the Rivers State University Nkpolu Port Harcourt and Ignatius Ajulu University of Education Rumuolumeni Port Harcourt are not on strike.
The NLC and her affiliates in a speech delivered at the government house Port Harcourt wondered why federal universities has remained closed for over five months while the children of politicians and public office holders are busy graduating from foreign universities and flooding the internet with pictures of such graduations.
The NLC leader in Rivers State therefore urged the FG to ensure a speedy implementation of all pending agreements with ASUU and conclude negotiations so the universities can reopen and students saved from possible crimes from being idle.
The union also asked the Rivers State Government to transmit their message to the federal government in Abuja.
