Fashola Preaches Against Strike, As LASU Protest Tuition Hike

THE Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola has urged labour unions in the country to stop using strikes to settle trade disputes between them and their employers, advising that strike is a potent weapon and it must be used very sparingly and discretionary to avoid future suffering by all.


The governor said this during the celebration of the 2014 Workers’ Day in Onikan, Lagos, which was almost disrupted as students and employees of the Lagos State University, and some civil society groups protested against the continued hike in LASU tuition.

He said, “For me, there is nothing offensive about strikes, what I have advocated year after year is that the power to strike is a very potent weapon and it must be used very sparingly and discretionary and if you use it everyday, after a while, it would lose its efficacy. Ultimately, all of us will suffer.”

Fashola commended the Nigerian workers for their contributions to nation building, saying they were the engine of the nation’s development.

Chairman of Academic Staff Union of Universities, LASU chapter, Dr Adekunle Idris, said the protest was to bring the problems of LASU to the public

Idris urged the state government to take urgent steps to address some of the issues at LASU in order to save the institution from collapse.