By: Ade Adeleke
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) will on Monday next week October 5th, 2020, embark on another round of 14day warning strike following the failure of the Federal Government to address their various lingering grievances.
Two of the contentious issues are non payment of arrears of National minimum wage to nonacademic staff in the nation’s universities and inconsistencies of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information system (IPPIS) in the payment of their members’ salaries.
To this end, the Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA Branch of the two Unions have held their joint Congress today at the campus to sensitize and notify members about the industrial action.
The National Vice President (West) of the SSANU, Comrade Ilesanmi Alfred Jimoh and the FUTA Branch chairman of SSANU/NASU JAC, Comrade Dele Durojaye said the strike had become inevitable as a result of nonchalant attitude of the government to university education.
Ilesanmi and Durojaye declared that the members at FUTA Branch were ready to shut down the school and other federal universities nationwide to press home their demands which also included nonpayment of arrears of Earned Allowance being owed SSANU/NASU members despite various Memoranda of understanding (MOUs).
Ilesanmi who lamented poor state of state universities, said the strike was also targeted at drawing the attention of the government to total neglect and poor funding of state universities in the country.
Durojaye also said the strike was also necessitated by the refusal of the federal government to pay retirement benefits to retired/outgone members nationwide.
The Chairman noted that “lack of seriousness and delays by Government in the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/SSANU Agreement is another critical issue.
“Usurpation of Headship of Non-Teaching units of Academic Staff in clear violation of Conditions of Service and Establishment procedures,” said Durojaye.
The SSANU Chairman at FUTA said no non-teaching staff would work at the institution from Monday 5th to 19th October, 2020 unless the federal government meets their demands.