The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), on Monday, handed a four-week ultimatum to the federal government to conclude all ongoing negotiations with worker unions in the tertiary education sector or face a nationwide industrial action involving all affiliate unions.
NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, said the congress had resolved to work closely with the unions to ensure the implementation of existing agreements and to push for sustainable funding and fair remuneration across Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
The ultimatum followed extensive deliberations with unions representing university and polytechnic workers where the Labour Centre insisted on a ‘No Pay No Work’ stance contrary to the earlier ‘No Work No Pay’ policy adopted by the Federal Government against the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU ) over the ongoing dispute.
Adressing journalists in Abuja, Ajaero explained that the congress would no longer tolerate government’s representatives attending meetings without the mandate to make binding commitments, noting that such practices had worsened the crisis over time.
He emphasised that future engagements must lead to actionable outcomes, not mere promises.
The NLC’s move comes amid renewed unrest in the education sector, following ongoing strike action by ASUU and other academic unions over the government’s failure to fulfill outstanding agreements.
Many of the issues stemmed from disputes over salary arrears, withheld allowances, and poor infrastructure funding.
In recent weeks, fresh threats of industrial action have emerged from non-academic unions such as NASU and SSANU, who accused the government of neglecting previously signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs).
Polytechnics and colleges of education have also raised similar grievances over poor funding and the delay in implementing new wage structures. The growing discontent has placed the education sector on the edge once again, with calls for urgent intervention to avert another round of strikes.
To address the issues, NLC further announced the creation of a coordinated framework to monitor the implementation of all outstanding agreements and to drive a national campaign for education reform.
According to Ajaero, the congress will push for adherence to UNESCO’s recommendation that nations allocate at least 25 to 26 per cent of their annual budgets to education.
He warned that failure to meet the four-week deadline would compel the NLC to mobilise all workers nationwide for a total shutdown, describing the move as necessary to end the cycle of broken promises and recurring strikes in the sector.
Ajaero stated, “We have decided to give the federal government four weeks to conclude all negotiations in this sector. If after four weeks this negotiation is not concluded, the organs of the NLC will meet and take a nationwide action that all workers in the country, all unions in the country, will be involved.
“Henceforth, no trade union in the tertiary institutions or elsewhere will attend meetings with government officials who lack the mandate to make decisions. The era of signing agreements and threatening unions has come to an end.”
“The policy of ‘No work, No pay’ will now be met with ‘No pay, no work’. You cannot cause a strike by failing to honour agreements and then punish those affected. That era is over,” the NLC chairman declared.