Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions (NASU), have declared a seven-day warning strike.
The unions said the strike was to demand the payment of four months withheld salaries of their members by the Federal Government after the 2022 nationwide strike.
This strike followed the resolution of the Joint Action Committee of the two unions after a meeting held in Akure, the Ondo State capital, over the weekend.
The National President of SSANU, Mohammed Ibrahim, who conveyed the resolution of the meeting to journalists in Abuja on Monday, stressed that the warning strike was deemed necessary after numerous attempts to engage with the Federal Government failed to yield the desired outcome.
Recall that the unions had last week threatened to shut down universities in the country if the government refuses to accede to its demands within the next seven days.
A seven-day ultimatum, which started counting last Monday, was issued to the Federal Government.
Ibrahim had said there would be a total shutdown of the universities if the non-academic staff embark on strike.
“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 can not be attended to, and members are suffering quite clearly,” the SSANU President had said.
