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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) have declared said the seven-day warning strikethey declared will commence on Monday, March 18, 2024.
The decision was part of the resolution of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the two unions, after a meeting , held in Akure, the Ondo State capital, at the weekend.
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.
The SSANU President, Mohammed Ibrahim, who read the communiqué of the meeting to journalists in Abuja on Monday, the decision to embark on the warning strike was taken as a last resort since several protest letters and other communications with the Federal Government did not result in the payment of the withheld salaries.
“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 decisions on the matter.”
Recall that President Bola Tinubu had directed the payment of four months withheld salaries to university lecturers owing to their strike of 2022.
SSANU and NASU had accused the Federal Government of treating their members with “disdain.”
The unions subsequently 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.