The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) have warned of potential disruptions to industrial peace in Nigerian universities.
This comes in response to the government’s failure to release the withheld salaries of their members, a situation stemming from a strike action in 2022 under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a joint letter made public on Friday, SSANU President Muhammed Ibrahim and NASU General Secretary Peters Adeyemi expressed their discontent over the government’s decision to settle four months of withheld salaries for members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) while neglecting the non-academic staff.
The unions emphasized the unfair treatment and questioned the government’s rationale behind this selective payment.
The letter further highlighted the unions’ stance, stating that they would find it challenging to guarantee industrial harmony within universities if the government continues to withhold the salaries owed to their members.
This announcement raises concerns about the potential for widespread industrial action that could disrupt academic activities across Nigerian universities.
Previously, on February 13, 2024, the unions voiced their grievances through protest letters addressed to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, and the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman.
The letters detailed their dissatisfaction with excluding non-teaching staff from the payment of outstanding salaries, underscoring a feeling of marginalization within the university system’s workforce.
The letter read, “We are therefore shocked that two weeks after the letters had been sent and received by the appropriate quarters, the Federal Government has remained quiet and refused to take any step towards addressing this very sensitive issue and it seems as if the Federal Government is taking our maturity for granted.
“We like to confirm through this medium once again to the Federal Government that the pressure on us has intensified and we have done everything possible within our ambit to prevail on our members to maintain industrial peace and tranquillity.
“While we appreciate the Federal Government for paying our Academic counterpart, we also deem it necessary that our members are also paid. The various feelers we are getting from our members in the universities and inter-university ventres indicate that we can no longer guarantee and be able to sustain industrial peace in the university sector.
“We therefore use this opportunity once again to call on the Federal Government to do the needful within the next seven days as the Joint Action Committee of NASU and SSANU should not be held responsible should the wheel of administration and corporate governance be grounded to a halt in the University sector, as we have exercised enough patience.
“If nothing is done by the Federal Government to positively address this situation and respond to our previous letters to them, the members of the two Unions may be forced to meet soon to take all lawful and stringent decision on the matter.”
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