The leadership of both the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) have directed their members across university and inter-university centre campuses nationwide to withdraw services beginning from Monday, 18 March.
The seven-day industrial action, according to a memo addressed to the branches of the unions and dated Friday, 15 March, is in fulfilment of the earlier threat and ultimatum issued to the Nigerian government by the unions over the unpaid withheld salaries of their members.
The memo, which was issued by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of both SSANU and NASU, and signed by the national president of SSANU, Mohammed Ibrahim, and the general secretary of NASU, Peters Adeyemi, urged the branch leaders to ensure total compliance to the directive.
JAC blamed the Nigerian government for allowing the matter to degenerate, querying the justification for the payment of the withheld salaries of the members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) but decided to leave out their members.
The memo reads in part: “Please note that the 7-day warning strike should be comprehensive and total as no concession should be given in any guise.
“Your strict compliance and adherence to this directive is mandatory for all NASU and SSANU branches in the universities and inter-university centres.”
In 2022, two months after ASUU commenced a nationwide strike, both SSANU and NASU also embarked on nationwide industrial action that further crippled activities across the campuses.
The action was to protest the government’s failure to fulfil its promises to the workers and what they described as gross underfunding of the universities.
At the time, the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari invoked a ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy and withheld the workers’ salaries.
The National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) also took part in the strike at the time.
SSANU queried the rationale behind the government’s insistence on the “no work, no pay policy,” saying that due process was followed before embarking on the strike that lasted four months. Till the end of his tenure, Mr Buhari never authorised the payment of the workers. (Premium Times)
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