President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, has justified the Union’s solidarity rally for the Academic Stafff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike.
The NLC had scheduled Tuesday July 26 and Wednesday July 27, as National Days of Protest across the country in solidarity with striking varsity lecturers.
Labour said the protest would hold at all the State capitals, while the mega rally would take place in Abuja to pressure the Federal Government to meet ASUU’s demands
While on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday, Wabba noted that ASUU is an affiliate of the NLC, pointing out that anything that affects any of its affiliates directly affects Labour.
Further justifying Labour’s solidarity rally, Wabba regretted that “the children of the poor and the working class are pining away at home while the children of the elite are schooling abroad.”
He described the situation as “unacceptable.”
The Labour leader regretted that “10m eligible Nigerian children are currently awaiting entry into Nigerian universities”.
He explained that the figure represents a back log of three sets of fresh entrants who are staying idle at home because of the Federal Government’s induced ASUU strikes.