Strike Monster Threatens Public Universities in Nigeria As SSANU, NASU Begins Indefinite Strike Today
Barely a week after Nigeria's Minister of Education.Tahir Mamman was sacked. another existential threat stares at public Universities in Nigeria in the face as the non-academic staff unions of Nigerian universities have declared an indefinite nationwide strike over the continuous withholding of their members’ four months’ salaries since 2022 effective from today Monday 28, October, 2024.
By: Olufemi Orunsola
Another existential threat by the monster called Indefinite Strike stares at public Universities in Nigeria in the face as the non-academic staff unions of Nigerian universities have declared an indefinite nationwide strike over the continuous withholding of their members’ four months’ salaries since 2022 effective from Monday, 28 October, 2024.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) disclosed this in a statement released on Sunday sighted by OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News.
The statement, which was jointly signed by SSANU National President Mohammed Ibrahim and NASU General Secretary Peters Adeyemi, reveal that the strike action begins on Monday, 28 October, and continues indefinitely.
OTN News reports that the Joint Action Committee of the Unions said the decision followed multiple ultimatums earlier issued and protests held to ensure that the government paid the withheld salaries without yielding positive results.
The statement reads in part, “We have exercised considerable and prolonged patience, allowing multiple deadlines to pass without receiving a satisfactory response to our demands by the Government,”
“In view of this, this is to direct all our members in the universities and inter-university centres throughout the country to hold a joint congress in their respective campuses on Monday, 28th October 2024 and proceed on an indefinite, comprehensive and total strike action as no concession should be given in any guise.”
OTN News recalls that salaries were withheld for eight months in 2022 when activities within the Nigerian universities were on hold due to prolonged strikes by both academic and non-academic staff.
Though both, SSANU and NASU suspended the strike after four months, the academic staff continued for eight months until an industrial court ordered the suspension of the strike at the instance of the federal government.
Meanwhile, the government had introduced a “No Work, No Pay” policy, thereby withholding the salaries of the workers for the period they were on strike.
Last October, President Bola Tinubu directed the payment of four of the eight months withheld salaries for the academic staff. It was finally paid in February.
The directive was silent about the non-teaching staff, raising concerns as to their fate. The unions also described the directive as selective and kicked against it.
The unions subsequently wrote to the government, gave ultimatums, protested and held warning strikes, but their four-month salaries are still being withheld.day without
In March, the union embarked on a one-week warning strike after its letter to the education minister and the Chief of Staff to the President were not responded to. In July, the unions ordered a nationwide protest to call the government’s attention to their plight.
After the July meeting, the spokesperson for the education ministry, Folashade Boriowo, said the withheld salaries had been forwarded to the highest level of government and were receiving attention.
Earlier this month, the union gave a seven-day ultimatum over the withheld salaries but the action also failed to achieve the desired result.
“It is quite appalling that we have issued several ultimatums thereafter with no positive result from the government, it is therefore obvious that the government is not positively disposed to our rightful and legitimate demands in spite of several interactions, dialogues, exchange of correspondences and assurances of payment all to no avail,” the unions said in the statement.
Meanwhile, the unions also have a separate rift with the government regarding the unfulfilled provisions of the 2009 agreement between the government and the unions.
The non-implementation of the 2009 agreement was the reason for the 2022 strike that led to the current withheld salaries.
OTN News observes that the current strike action is coming barely a week after the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman inaugurated a seven-man committee to re-negotiate the 2009 agreement with university-based unions, including SSANU and NASU.
OTN News however gathered from union sources that the current industrial action is, however, almost independent of the rift arising from the 2009 agreement.
In a related development, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) had also revently issued a 15-day Ultimatum to Federal Government to meet its demands but the union extended the grace period to December 2 after the expiration of the ultimatum last week
What's Your Reaction?
