The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has strongly condemned the Federal Government’s threat to enforce the “No Work, No Pay” policy against striking university lecturers, warning that such intimidation tactics would only deepen the crisis in the country’s public universities.
Comrade Joe Ajaero, NLC President, said this while reacting to the two-week warning strike declared by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
He described the lecturers’ action as a legitimate response to years of government neglect and unfulfilled promises.
In a statement released on Monday, Ajaero said the government’s persistent failure to honour agreements voluntarily reached with ASUU and other university-based unions had pushed the academic community to the brink.
“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,” the statement reads.
“This continued refusal to implement voluntarily signed agreements is undermining public tertiary institutions and eroding confidence in the system.”
He noted that the strike was not an act of defiance but a justified reaction to government inaction.
“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,” Ajaero said.
“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.”
The labour leader criticised what he called a deliberate weakening of the public education system, arguing that such neglect perpetuates inequality and leaves children from working-class families at a disadvantage.
“The children of workers and the poor are left with an underfunded, demoralised system, while the children of the elite attend private institutions at home and abroad. Quality education must not be a privilege for a few but a right for all,” he added.
Declaring total solidarity with ASUU, Ajaero warned that the NLC would not hesitate to mobilise broader industrial action if the government fails to act within the two-week window of the strike.
“If, after the two-week warning strike, the government remains unresponsive, the NLC will not stand idly by,” he said.
“We will convene an emergency meeting with our affiliates in the tertiary education sector to develop a comprehensive strategy for further engagement with the government. The struggle of ASUU is the struggle of the Nigerian working class. The fight for public education is a fight for Nigeria’s future.”
Ajaero urged the Federal Government to immediately set aside its threats and address the core issues in the negotiated agreements to prevent the complete collapse of Nigeria’s university system.
“The choice is clear: honour the agreements and salvage public education, or face the resolute and unified force of the entire Nigerian workforce,” the statement concluded.
