Strikes
ACADEMIC Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) extended its ongoing strike by eight weeks from 14th March. The strike is over the refusal of the Federal Government to honour the Memorandum of Agreement reached with ASUU to end its nine month strike in December 2020. Student union governments and trade union branches should send messages of support to: Emmanuel Osodeke, ASUU President: president@asuu.org.ng; Chris Piwuna, ASUU Vice President: piwuna01@gmail.com; copied to Omotoye Olorode omotoopo@gmail.com
The Joint Action Committee of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions (NASU) declared a two-week warning strike from 28th March. The main demands are to re-negotiate the 2009 agreement; payment of earned allowances; payment of minimum wage arrears and the funding of state universities. Trade union branches should send solidarity messages to the NASU General Secretary.
The National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) directed its members to shut down all university laboratories, workshops, studios and farms. NAAT with a two-week warning strike with effect from 21, March, 2022.
The main demand is to re-negotiate the 2009 agreement.
The strike by the Joint Research and Allied Institutions Sector Unions (JORAISU – composed of NASU and SSAUTHRIAI) continued with their indefinite strike, now lasting approaching six months. Workers in the 67 research institutes nationwide are on indefinite strike over the failure by the Federal Government to fully implement an agreement reached with the unions in 2010. Trade union branches should send solidarity messages to the President or Secretary of JORAISU.
Primary school teachers of Niger State, members of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) continued their strike from the beginning of the year. On 3rd March it was decided that all affiliate unions of NLC operating at local government level in Niger State were to proceed on a seven Days Warning Strike effective 12 midnight of that day. In addition, all affiliate unions of NLC and TUC working at State level were directed to proceed on a similar strike from 12 midnight on Sunday the 6th of March, 2022. These strikes were converted to indefinite strikes before they ended.
The strike was over the payment of percentage salaries, the failure to pay pension gratuities for several years and the failure of the state to make other payroll related payments. The indefinite strike was suspended until 31st May on 24th March without any significant gains having been made.
Teachers in public primary and secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State commenced an indefinite strike on 16th March.
They were demanding for payment of eight years leave grant and six years of promotion arrears. The strike was called off on 20th March.
Protests
March 2: Some women protested at the National Assembly, calling for a reconsideration of the gender bills rejected by the lawmakers. The protesters condemned lawmakers for voting against proposed gender bills a day before, saying the action will deny women the opportunity of inclusion and representation in governance. The National Assembly had rejected a constitutional bill seeking to create special seats for women in the federal legislative arm of government.
March 2: Students from higher institutions of learning in Ondo State under the auspices of the National Association of University Students (NANS), protested over the ongoing industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) across the country.
March 2: Members of the Nigeria Automobile Technicians Association, NATA, Amuwo Odofin Chapter protested in Ikeja, Lagos over alleged illegal arrest, detention and intimidation of their members by the Police. The artisans carrying various placards marched from the premises of the Ikeja High Court to the Police Command where they formally handed over a petition to the Police authority.
March 3: The Coalition of Civil Societies for Equity, Justice and Good Governance, staged a protest against the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Abuja. They alleged that there was an ongoing rot in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation including irregular recruitment of staff and promotions.
March 3: A coalition of over 10 civil society organisations protested against the rejection by the National Assembly of the proposal to create the Office of the Mayor for the Federal Capital Territory. The CSOs advocated the political, economic and cultural rights of the original inhabitants of Abuja, also lamented the vote by NASS against the nomination of a Minister from the FCT to the Federal Executive Council, and the allocation of a specific number of seats in the National Assembly to women.
March 5: WOMEN under the auspices of ABUJA MOMS stormed the streets of the Federal Capital Territory to protest against rising cases of rape and child molestation in the country, demanding stiffer penalties to perpetrators. The women in their number, converged at JD Pleasure Park, Wuse II, Abuja as early as 7am from where the protest walk began round major streets of the capital city.
March 7: The residents of Ungwar Yazawa community in Lafia Local Government Area of Nasarawa State staged a protest over an eight months total blackout in the community. The protesters, who took to the streets of Lafia down to the head office of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Lafia, decried the situation of the persistent electricity outage.
March 8: Hundreds of commuters were stranded on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway following a protest by universities students. The students, under the aegis of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) South West Zone blocked the road to protest the ongoing one month warning strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the current fuel scarcity across the country.
March 8: As part of the activities to mark the International Women’s Day, some women went to the National Assembly in Abuja to protest the rejection of some bills seeking gender equality. Women, in their hundreds, gathered at the gate of the National Assembly, to ask the lawmakers to reconsider the bills rejected during votes on constitutional amendments in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
March 10: Three retirees in Delta State fainted during a protest by concerned local government and primary school teachers and contributory retirees in the state. The protest which held in Asaba, the state capital, saw the senior citizens trekking from the secretariat of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) on DLA Road to the Government House.
March 10: Traders in the popular Fayose market in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State capital protested against the arrest of the president of the market, Babatunde Owa by the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) unit of the state police command.
The traders who grounded economic activities in the area carried placards asking for the release of Babatunde. They also called for the sacking of the commander of the RRS team.
March 10: Angry youths in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, protested over death of an aged woman allegedly swept away by rampaging floods from the torrential rain a day earlier. The youths blocked a section of Abak Road forcing vehicular traffic into the narrow Ufe Street at the Federal Housing Estate.
March 10: Wives of some murdered soldiers staged a protest against their husbands’ killing by gunmen suspected to be bandits in Kebbi State. The protesting women, who wore black, barricaded the official quarters of the commanding officer of the Light Tank Battalion of the Nigerian Army in Zuru, Kebbi State shouting in Hausa, “Whatever will happen, let it happen, we are also ready to die.”
March 11: The people of four oil bearing communities; Assa, Obile, Ochia and Awarra in Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State protested against alleged neglect by an oil giant company Shell petroleum, operating in the area. They regretted that despite decades of oil exploitation in the area, the people still lacked basic amenities like electricity, access roads, portable water and health care facilities.
March 12: Some residents of Shagari Low-cost Housing in Maiduguri staged a peaceful protest against what they described as ‘increase in criminal activities’. The demonstration followed the killing of one Mr Aga Citi, the Vice Chairman of Timber Sellers Association, in the state.
March 12: Elders and youths of Amagba community, Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State, took to the streets, protesting the claims of some people to own the Agor- Emokpae (Emokpae Camp) land.
March 13: Residents of Orioke Pure Water, a suburb of Osogbo have appealed to the Osun State Government to urgently rehabilitate roads in their area. They staged a peaceful protest over the hardship experienced by the people of the community as a result of the bad roads in the area.
March 15: Commuters were stranded as commercial bus drivers plying Iyana Ipaja/Ikotun and Iyana Ipaja/Igando route, (near Agage, Lagos) withdrew their services in protest against the outrageous levies charged by the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
March 16: The Nigerian Labour Congress and members of the judiciary, legislative and parliamentary arms of government in South West staged a protest in Ibadan demanding the implementation of local government financial autonomy bill, passed by the National Assembly. The peaceful protest which kicked off from NLC Secretariat Agodi, Ibadan went to the Oyo State House of Assembly.
March 16: Aggrieved youths from Ohaji/Egbema Local Council of Imo State, have protested the deplorable condition of Owerri-Port Harcourt expressway and other roads. The protest left travellers along Owerri-Port Harcourt road and other roads of the state stranded for several hours.
March 16: Protest by commercial bus drivers and pensioners, forced heavy vehicular traffic jam in Benin City. The drivers were protesting over the increase in the daily ticket rate by the Edo Government from N800 to N2,000 while the pensioners took to the streets over non upward adjustments and payment of their gratuity since 2012 by the State Government.
March 17: Some higher institution students and parents staged a protest to the Kwara State Government House, Ilorin over the abduction of four undergraduates along the Kaduna-Suleja federal highway, Kaduna State. The four students were said to be returning to Kwara state from Jigawa after the ASUU extended its industrial action.
March 17: There was protest at the main gate of Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, Osun State following the announcement of a new Vice Chancellor. Some Ife indigenes requested that a qualified indigene should be appointed as Vice-Chancellor.
March 17: There was protest at the Orita Challenge area of Ibadan following the alleged shooting of a corps member by the police. The shooting led to a protest by some of the corps members at the area.
March 17: The Coalition of Women Associations in Ogun State raised the alarm over the high mortality rate among pregnant women in the rural areas of the State. They demanded quality representation in politics and governance in the forthcoming elections.
March 20: Youths of Maraban Kagoro, Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State mounted roadblocks to protest an attack on Agban, along Gidan Waya Road. The angry youths burned tires and attacked some passengers to protest the attack, killing two persons in Kafanchan. Schools and businesses were under lock and key for fear of being attacked.
March 21: Hundreds of dispatch riders barricaded the main entrance to the Lagos State House of Assembly complex in protest against multiple extortions by the state government and some agencies of the Federal Government. The protesters displayed placards with inscriptions, such as; ‘We are not lazy Nigerians, No to baboon area boys’, ‘Give us one card’. They prevented visitors to the complex from entering, despite a heavy police presence at the gate.
March 23: Some workers of Edo State Sports Council blocked all roads leading to the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City in protest over their retrenchment. The affected workers, comprising athletes, coaches, and administrative staff, prevented vehicular movement within the stadium area. Over 500 workers were affected by the mass sack which took effect from March 21, 2022.
March 24: Aggrieved staff members of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Abuja have staged hourslong protest at the headquarters of the commission to press home their demands. The staff protested against unpaid allowances and delays in the conduct of promotion exercises.
March 24: Angry youths at Chukuku Community, FCT, barricaded the Kuje-Gwagwalada road during a protest over incessant kidnappings by bandits in the community. The angry youths barricaded the road with inscriptions on placards “Government should provide security to Chukuku Community”.
March 24: No fewer than 200 tricycle (keke) operators stormed the headquarters of Traffic and Indiscipline Management Agency of Abia State (TIMASS). They protested what they described as extortion, high handedness and arbitrary confiscation of their tricycles by officials of the agency.
March 26: Owners of buildings demolished in Osogbo, during the last administration in Osun State have urged the Governor to help in paying compensation. The houses were demolished for road construction but no compensation was paid.
March 26: Tired of insecurity, residents appealed to the Federal Government for protection in Kebbi State. The crowd, drawn from different communities, met at about 12:45 pm at Maga village square, under Kebu District in Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of the state.
March 28: The National Association of Nigerian Students resumed its protest to demand an end to the ongoing strike by the ASUU. Speaking during the protest in Abuja, the national president of NANS, said students are ready to throng major roads in the Federal Capital Territory.
March 28: Some civil servants protested before the office of the Head of Service (HOS) of Cross River State, over alleged unpaid four years salaries by the State Government. The protesters carried placards such as “over four years without salary,” “who did we offend?” “we go to work every day.”
March 28: Youths numbering over 200 under the umbrella of Isoko Development Union Youths Wing, protested and barricaded the ever busy Emevor-Iyede-Ughelli Asaba expressway, Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta State following what they called marginalisation by the Delta State Government. The mass protest caused gridlock for several hours.
March 28: Traders with stores under and around the Apongbon bridge, Lagos Island pleaded with the Lagos State Government to rescind its decision to evacuate them from under the bridge. The traders, were affected by the previous week’s fire outbreak. “We are over 20,000 businessmen and women, please don’t displace us,” one of the placards by the traders read.
March 29: The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) picketed Lagos office of Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) over the death of its member, Babalola Oladimeji. The union members, who chanted solidarity songs in protest over the death of the contract staff, held placards with inscriptions such as “Justice for Babalola Oladimeji” and “Implement Collective Bargaining.”
We need your assistance to ensure that this monthly report is comprehensive. Please submit details of any strikes or other protests in your state or community to tpapsnigeria@gmail.com
All these strikes and protests need our support and solidarity. We call on all trade union branches to send messages of support and to organise solidarity visits to any strikes in their localities.
Compiled by The Peoples Alternative Political Movement (TPAP-M)
