The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions (NASU) have given the Federal Government a seven-day ultimatum to meet their demands or they will embark on strike.
SSANU President, Mohammed Ibrahim, issued this threat while speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
According to Ibrahim, the seven-day ultimatum will start counting from Monday, March 4, 2024 and SSANU, alongside NASU, will call for a total strike in Nigerian universities if the Federal Government fails to grant them their demands.
“There would be a total shutdown of the universities if members of the non-academic staff went on strike,” Ibrahim said.
“We are in charge of security, we are in charge of administration, we are in charge of medicals, we are in charge of hostels, we are in charge of electricity, we are in charge of everything apart from teaching. So, once our members down tools, no university can function in Nigeria.”
“It’s quite unfortunate. No union member wants to go on strike, but when you are pushed to the wall, what would you do? You have to push back.
“You can see what is happening in the country. The economy is in doldrums and everybody is suffering. Most of our universities are located far outside the township and our members have to commute every day.
“Fuel cannot be accessed, food is scarce, our medicals cannot be attended to, and members are suffering quite clearly.”
The SSANU President further lamented that it is quite absurd that they have to speak like this, claiming that it is because they have been clearly shown that they do not matter in the system.
Ibrahim added that it is a known fact that no university can function in Nigeria without the efforts of the non-teaching staff.
“We are populated by professionals, we oil the engine in the administration of every university, and therefore treating a segment of staff with disdain does not speak well of the system,” he lamented.
“In 2022, all the university-based unions were on strike – four of us. For us in NASU and SSANU, we went on strike on the 27th of March and we called it off on the 27th of August after the intervention of the then Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu.
“We had an agreement that we signed with the government to review the situation and ensure that justice is done,” he recalled.
According to Ibrahim, the last part of the agreement with the former administration of President Muhammad Buhari was that no one should suffer for taking part in the strike and salaries should not be withheld.
He revealed that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led federal government, however, decided to stop the payment of the salaries of all non-teaching staff in May 2023.
Ibrahim said the payment was only restored in September 2023, but the Nigerian government agreed to pay the withheld salaries of only the members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
“Today, as I speak to you, our colleagues in ASUU have been able to get theirs and no one is saying anything about NASU and SSANU,” Ibrahim disclosed.
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