The Nigerian Union of
Petroleum and Natural Gas
Workers (NUPENG) has said it
will go on a solidarity strike
with the Academic Staff Union
of Universities (ASUU), if the
Federal Government does not
comply with the agreement it
signed with the lecturers'
union.

NUPENG accused the
government of being insensitive
to the plight of Nigerians.
It noted that the way the
government has been acting on
the ASUU strike portrayed it as
unconcerned about the nation's
suffering.

NUPENG's National President
Igwe Achese spoke at the
weekend in Lagos when he
announced the union's
delegates' conference which will
hold on October 17 in Port
Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Achese noted that the "nation's
foundation is shaking because
our future leaders and their
children are not attending our
local universities".
According to him, the Federal
Government owes it as a duty to
end the strike.
The union leader urged the
government to respect the
agreement it signed with ASUU
in 2009, adding that the
government should see itself as
an employer of labour.
He said: "It is particularly
shocking that the government
has carried on as if everything is
normal, without bothering
about the fate of the students
who have been marooned at
home since the strike started.
Perhaps this is because the
children and wards of those at
the helm of affairs are
luxuriating in schools abroad, or
because they are too
comfortable to worry about
their less-fortunate
compatriots."
Achese attributed the incessant
strikes in the country to the fact
that the Ministry of Labour had
not been performing its duties.

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