The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) have begun a nationwide strike over what they described as unfair treatment and disparity in the payment of withheld salaries by the Federal Government.
Speaking on a live television programme, SSANU President, Mohammed Ibrahim, lamented that no government representative has reached out to the non-academic unions.
Ibrahim sensed some “saboteurs in his government” and wondered why President Bola Tinubu would give an instruction that members of varsity unions be paid 2022 arrears and some government officials won’t fully comply.
The SSANU President said the Labour Minister Nkiruka Onyejeocha has not reached out to the aggrieved unions despite a seven-day notice issued last Monday, a development he said was a departure to the responsiveness of the ex-Labour Minister Chris Ngige.
Last Monday, March 11, 2024, SSANU and NASU threatened to shut down hostels and power supply in universities across the country if the Federal Government fails to meet its demands before today, March 18, 2024.
The SSANU President had said his members including Vice Chancellors, registrars and bursars have not been paid 2022 arrears.
The SSANU leader had berated the Federal Government for paying withheld salaries to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) while neglecting other unions like SSANU and NASU.
The unions had embarked on an eight-month strike in 2022 to press home some of their demands including better welfare package. The administration of then President Muhammadu Buhari subsequently invoked a ‘No Work, No Pay policy’ against the unions but Tinubu last October approved the release of four of the eight months withheld salaries for ASUU members.
SSANU, NASU Ground Varsities, Begin Strike Today
