Students protest as workers commence strike in Kwara

Governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatah-Ahmed

Students of the Kwara State College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies on Wednesday protested against the disruption of their examination by the three-day warning strike started by academic and non-academic staff of the institution.

The students, who marched around Geruwu Junction near their school at Adewole, Ilorin carried placards with various inscriptions condemning the move.


The President of the Student Union in the institution, Mr. Salaudeen Sodiq, explained that the strike had disrupted the academic programmes of over 1,500 students.

Sodiq called on relevant authorities to address the issues that led to the strike.
Members of the Colleges of Legal and Allied Institutions Academic Staff Union, Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education in Nigeria and Non-Academic Staff Union of the Kwara State, CAILS chapter, were among the striking workers.

The union members said the strike was as a result of the Kwara State Government’s failure to state when it would pay salaries it owed the workers. It claimed that the workers had not been paid for 10 months.
The workers said the warning strike would continue till Friday.

Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, told journalists that he was saddened by the failure of workers to get their entitlements.

He, however, said going on strike was not the best approach to resolve the problem, especially when the state government was financially challenged.

He said, “If people understand what is going on in Nigeria, they will know that one solution to the problem is not strike. Strike is not any solution to the problem because if you are not paid, it is because there is no money; a strike will not change it.

“But if you are agitating for a benefit and the money is there but you are not being paid because of policy, then you can go on strike to change the policy and get more money. But when there is no money, strike will not change anything.”