Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has threatened to join the nationwide strike if the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike was not immediately resolved.
National President and General Secretary of NUPENG, Williams Akporeha and Afolabi Olawale, in a statement issued on Monday, said the strikes by ASUU, Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) had paralysed universities for months.
While expressing worry and concern over the prolonged strikes by the university unions, NUPENG condemned what it called the “lackadaisical attitude” of the Federal Government towards finding a lasting solution to the crisis.
The union asked the Federal Government to “immediately address and resolve all demands of ASUU, NASU and SSANU without any further delay to avert national solidarity actions from our members across the country.”
Recall that the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had threatened a national protest over the prolonged ASUU strike which has entered its fifth month.
NUPENG said it aligned with NLC’s position on national protest.
“The rank-and-file members of NUPENG align with the NLC’s position on protest against unfortunate situation in the tertiary education sector and will not hesitate to join in the proposed nationwide strike on the matter,” the union added.
