FROM IKHILI EBALU, BENIN CITY
National President, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Joe Ajaero, has stated that the struggle of the union “is not just for bread and butter, but for the soul of our nation.”
Ajaero stated this yesterday through the national deputy president of the NLC during the commencement of the 23rd National Delegates Conference of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, held at the University of Benin main campus in Ugbowo, Benin City.
He described ASUU as a beacon. “Your fight for the 2009 agreement was not just a fight for lecturers, it was a fight for the future of Nigeria’s intellectual sovereignty. It is a civic responsibility which you approached gallantly.”
Ajaero, who lauded its members doggedness, said refusal to let the flames of the struggle to be extinguished by the cold wind of state indifference was a great one. The recent victory is a testimony to your resilience. But we must ask has this money left the coffers of power or is it another audio allocation? A mirage in the dessert of broken promises?
He said there is no need to celebrate until every kobo touches the hands of workers who earned it,” adding that “the Nigerian state is held hostage by a cabal. They privatise our commonwealth.”
In his submission, a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC), and former President of ASUU, Professor Attahiru Jega, said: “Education is no doubt one of the key institutions in/of any nation. Struggles to improve education, to protect and expand educational opportunities, provide quality education and protect, as well as defend the interest of workers in academic institutions, are in many fundamental respects, struggles for nation building. “
He stated that in these struggles, ASUU has made many sacrifices; its members have suffered harassment, intimidation, deprivation of rights and freedoms; it has been abused, pilloried, accused of subversion, branded ‘too radical’.
The conference will come to an end on Sunday, May 11 with the installation of a new ASUU president.
