Members of the Nigeria Labour Congress in Imo State protested in Owerri, the state capital, on Tuesday against the Academic Staff Union of Universities' ongoing industrial action.
Protesting workers marched through the city, causing gridlock, on their way to the government house from the NLC secretariat in new Owerri.
They sang songs of solidarity and insisted on meeting with the state governor, Hope Uzodiinma.
The governor came down from his convoy, listened to NLC leaders, and later addressed the protesting workers.
In his address to the governor, NLC chairman Philip Nwansi stated that the workers were on a solidarity march in support of ASUU, which had been on strike for five months.
The labour leader reminded the governor that the protest was not directed at the state government, but at the Federal Government, which had refused to resolve its differences with university lecturers.
"This is not a protest against the state government," he explained. It is directed against the Federal Government for refusing to resolve its differences with ASUU. We stand in solidarity with the ASUU. We want the young people who have been out on the streets for five months to return to school. "Enough is Enough."
The chairman of ASUU at Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Chinedu Ihejirika, and his counterpart from Imo State University in Owerri, Odinakachukwu Ejiogu, both chastised the FG for failing to meet its end of the bargain.
In response, the governor stated that he would relay their message to the appropriate authorities.
As a result, he urged the striking lecturers to relocate so that the students could return to school.
"I am in solidarity with ASUU," said the governor. The Federal Government cannot act in opposition to the interests of Nigerian students. While you protest, I want to urge ASUU to put students' interests ahead of their own."