NIGERIA Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) have led a public sector strike by state and local government workers in Cross River from 12th October. The State has failed to fully implement the N30,000 minimum wage, failed to implement promotions or annual increments and failed to pay its pensioners as required. In addition, teachers have suffered from loss of tax exemptions and allowances. The state has also illegally not remitted deductions from workers’ salaries. In addition, interns at University of Calabar Teaching Hospital have not been paid their allowances for the last 12 months and street cleaners of Calabar have not been paid their wages for the last six months.
Workers at nearly 70 research institutes, members of the Joint Research and Allied Institutions Sector Unions (JORAISU), started an indefinite strike from Wednesday 13th October over the Government’s failure to implement its agreement of December 2010. Workers from research institutes in Ibadan held a rally on 28th October to publicise the strike.
National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) suspended their strike for six weeks from 6th October after 63 days on strike, one of the longest ever strikes by doctors.
The Joint Union of the Academic Staff of Plateau State Owned Tertiary Institutions embarked on strike action on Friday 15th September following the refusal of State Government to implement the agreement entered with the union. The chair of the union called for support and cooperation of parents and members of the public at a press conference on 15th October.
The joint action committee of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities at the Taraba State University, Jalingo, on 18th October staged a protest against poor welfare. The two unions embarked on strike two weeks previously over poor welfare, non-implementation of promotion arrears and earned allowances, among others. The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Taraba State University chapter has declared indefinite strike from 25th October, due to the failure by the state and the university management to implement the MoU.
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun state, shut down from 1st October, after protests over the death of a student and poor health facilities. Students blocked the main-gate and highways. Students union elected recently after a ban. University due to re-open from 5th November.
Scores of members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and residents of Ogun State on 6th October blocked the Sango/Ota section of the Lagos—Abeokuta Expressway in protest against the deplorable condition of the road. Further protests were held on 27th October.
National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) Abia chapter shut Aba North local government secretariat from 6th October over woman worker’s assault by the chair. The head of the works department was hit with a plank and pipes by the executive chair of the local government.
6th October, pensioners of Aggrieved Pensioners in Benue State held a march in Makurdi to protest 33 and 74 months of arrears of pension and gratuity owed them at the state and local government levels respectively. Each month the government pays less than the pensions due so the arrears are increasing each month.
Elders of Ovia North East Local Government area of Edo State, on 7th October appealed to Governor to allow for the completion of a health centre project sited in their community. They marched to Government House and the Oba’s Palace. Building had been halted as it was allegedly built in a Forest Reserve.
Edo State pensioners protested their unpaid pensions and gratuities by the state government on 11th October. The flow of traffic at Ring Road in Benin City was disrupted. One protestor slumped and was taken to hospital.
Journalists of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, FCT Council, on Monday, October 25, 2021, protested at the Police Headquarters in Abuja, over the mysterious disappearance of their colleague, Tordue Salem, who reports for Vanguard Newspapers.
We need your assistance to ensure that this monthly strike report is comprehensive. Please submit details of any strikes or other protests in your state or community to tpapsnigeria@gmail.com
