THE Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) have issued a 14-day ultimatum to the federal government to implement the agreement they entered into with the federal government or face an indefinite nationwide strike in all federal universities.
NASU and SSANU gave the strike notice at a press conference following a meeting of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the two unions which held on Friday in Abuja, where the unions resolved to embark on a “comprehensive and a total strike with effect from midnight of Friday, February 5, 2021,” if the federal government fails to meet their demands.
Comrade Peters Adeyemi, General Secretary of NASU, while addressing an international press conference after a meeting of the JAC, said the federal government has up to February 5, 2021 to address its demands or face an indefinite industrial action. Comrade Adeyemi said the decision of the JAC followed resolutions from members of both unions from their branch congresses across the country.
“In line with the resolution of our members nationwide, that the leadership of the Joint Action Committee of NASU and SSANU hereby resolved that members of NASU and SSANU shall embark on an indefinite strike. This is comprehensive and a total strike with effect from midnight of Friday, February 5, 2021.
“That the two weeks’ notice, effective from today, January 22 is hereby given to the government and relevant stakeholders of this development,” Comrade Adeyemi said.
According to Comrade Adeyemi, the demands of the unions include; the resolution of the inconsistencies in the implementation of the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS), non-payment of earned allowances and non-payment of arrears of national minimum wage, fast-tracking the renegotiation of FG/NASU and SSANU 2009 agreement, the payment of retirement benefits of outgone members, as well as resolution of neglect and poor funding of state universities.
Comrade Adeyemi also noted that the unions were aggrieved over government’s failure to honour the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on October 20, 2020, adding that out of the seven lingering issues, only one has been partially resolved while the other six have not been attended to by the government, three months after the MoU was signed.
Adeyemi expressed JAC’s dismay on the way and manner in which the N40 billion released by the government as Earned Allowances was disbursed to the disadvantage of the non-academic staff, stating: “Our stand is that sharing money based on unions in the universities by the Federal Ministry of Education should stop.
“Our stand is that the federal government must halt the release of funds for Earned Allowances until the outcome of the forensic audit conducted on the previous payments.”
