ABUJA — The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has condemned the Federal Government’s threat to invoke the “No Work, No Pay” policy against striking university lecturers, declaring that such intimidation will not resolve the crisis in the nation’s public tertiary institutions.
Reacting to the two-week warning strike declared by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), NLC President Comrade Joe Ajaero said the lecturers’ action was a legitimate response to the government’s persistent failure to honour agreements voluntarily reached with the union.
The statement reads: “The NLC is deeply concerned by the persistent crisis in Nigeria’s public education system, marked by chronic underfunding and the government’s failure to honour agreements reached with university lecturers and workers. This continued refusal to implement voluntarily signed agreements is undermining public tertiary institutions and eroding confidence in the system.
“Rather than engaging in good faith to resolve the crisis, the government has resorted to the unproductive threat of ‘No Work, No Pay.” This narrative is misleading.
“The breach of contract lies with the state, not the scholars. Lecturers are willing to work, but the government’s consistent failure to meet its obligations has made it impossible for them to do so with the dignity and conditions their profession deserves. The principle remains clear: No Pay, No Work.
“This struggle transcends an ordinary industrial dispute. It highlights a broader societal injustice — a deliberate weakening of the public education system while the children of the elite attend private institutions at home and abroad.
“The children of workers and the poor are left with an underfunded, demoralised system, perpetuating inequality and limiting social mobility. Quality education must not be a privilege for a few but a right for all.