NLC Not Firm On Right To Freedom Of Association, Says ASUSS

The Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) Nigeria has said the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is not firm on its stance on workers’ right to freedom of association.

The reaction followed a five-point communiqué reportedly released by the NLC on July 4, 2025, in which the congress decried what it termed “a growing trend whereby some employers willfully violate the Trade Union Act 2025 with respect to the right of workers to join the union of their choice.”

ASUSS, in a statement jointly signed by its National President, Comrade Sola Adigun, and the Secretary-General, Comrade Kenneth Chukwudi Okoh, said it was “amusing and contradictory” that such a position could come from the NLC, which has for nearly two decades opposed ASUSS’s registration and operation.

“It is ironic that the same NLC, which leads Nigerian workers annually attending ILO conferences championing voluntarism and freedom of association, pretends to defend the very rights it has continuously denied Secondary School teachers in Nigeria,” the statement said.

ASUSS called on the federal government, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to take decisive action by issuing the union a certificate of registration in line with Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Trade Union Act, and Nigeria’s ILO obligations.

The union also urged the Ministry of Labour and Employment to facilitate an end to the seeming oppression, describing the prolonged registration denial as an injustice to thousands of Secondary School teachers across the country who wish to freely associate with ASUSS.

ASUSS reaffirmed its commitment to developing education in the country without compromising the advancement of the welfare and professional dignity of Secondary School teachers. It warned against continued internal suppression within the organised labour space.