ASUU strike: ERC supports proposed solidarity strikes by NUT, NUPENG, NUEE

The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) has declared its support for the proposed solidarity strike by three trade unions to include, the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) in support of the ongoing ASUU strike. The solidarity strike is to compel the Federal Government to honour the agreements it signed with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The National Coordinator of the ERC, Mr. Hassan Soweto made known the position of the body in a statement issued recently. Soweto asked the three Unions to immediately announce the date of the solidarity strike, instead of issuing ultimatum.
According to him, the Unions should begin “active mobilisation of their rank and file members as well as students who are frustrated at home and other concerned Nigerians to come out en-masse for mass protests and demonstrations on this day.”
The ERC Boss further affirmed thus, “We commend the three unions for taking this decision which we believe is in the best interest of the education sector and the Nation at large. We agree that the ASUU strike has gone on for far too long and the plethora of strikes in the education sector are just too many. Slowly, the entire public education sector is grinding to a halt. For instance, the public polytechnics are equally closed and it will not be too long before the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) follow suit. The Colleges of Education lecturers had recently held a 7-day warning strike. Indeed, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) had to resume the strike, they had suspended in July after three months, due to the insensitivity and insincerity of government to their demands and terms of the suspension of the last strike.”
He stressed further that solidarity strike was the only solution to the prolonged ASUU strike which is nearly four months old. He said, “The three unions come from key sectors of the Nation’s economy. As such their decision to embark on solidarity strike, if given full and practical effect could help pile pressure on the recalcitrant anti-poor Federal Government to meet the demands of striking education unions so that public Universities and Polytechnics can be reopened for full academic activities. This would also serve as an example for other unions and the entire labour movement to follow. We want to stress that the solidarity actions which the NUT, NUPENG and NUEE have envisioned should also cover and back the strikes of ASUP, COEASU and all other unions in the education sector that have any on-going dispute with the government over pay, conditions and education funding. This is the best way to ensure that all the outstanding disputes in the education sector are resolved and all public Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Educations are opened for full and undisrupted academic activities.”
Responding to some opinions that the Nigerian system will collapse if such strike is encouraged , Soweto said, “the point that must be made is that with or without strikes, the entire education sector, including secondary and primary education has already been destroyed and shutdown in terms of standard and quality; it is simply a pipe dream to imagine any serious learning is going on at any point in time in any of our public schools.”