JUST IN: Fresh Nation Wide Strike Looms As FG Fail To Honour Agreement With University Workers

There’s a fresh speculation that the non-teaching staff of Nigerian Universities may embark on another industrial action over government’s failure to honor agreements.

The unions which comprise of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) will be having a joint meeting on July 4 to deliberate on the whether or not to resume strike action or not.

The unions had earlier started a “comprehensive and indefinite strike” in December over the sharing of N23 billion the government released to the universities as earned allowances but later halted the strike on March 15 after an agreement with the government.

Abdussobur Salaam, the spokesperson for SSANU spoke with a journalist, barring his mind on the disappointing inaction of the government.

“The development in the past few weeks is disheartening and very disappointing and what it has continued to show to us as non-teaching staffers in the university is that this government is very insincere, very irresponsible when it comes to honouring agreements,” he lamented.

“Our members in the staff schools are still out of jobs, as we speak, Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife is about to implement the disengagement of the staff in the University staff school which is in gross contravention of the court ruling of the National Industrial Court of December 5, 2016 and also in gross contravention of our agreement that was signed in February this year, which is disheartening,” he said.

Mr Salaam said that Nigerian government has failed the unions again and as such “we may be forced to take some decisions.”

“At the end of the day, N8 billion was agreed upon which includes settling those academic staffers who are left out in University of Ilorin and University of Nigeria, Nsukka for the earned allowances payment. But as I speak to you, the government has already paid those academic staff, leaving out the ‘main people’ that they had an agreement with,” he further stated.

“You can be sure that if by the time we have our NEC meeting and nothing has been done, the unions will go every length to ensure that government respects its agreements. An agreement freely entered into must binding and that is our position.”

Similarly Godfrey Ugwu, NASU’s deputy president said the three unions have been having consultations with the government “but nothing has been done.”

According to Mr Ugwu, all the branch leaders of the unions have been invited to the meeting in Abuja on July 4 to make a final decision on the matter.

“That is why we are calling the meeting so that the decision will be effective, we will tell them all the things we have done and what government has done, then we’ll take a decision on that.”

Also, Sani Sulaiman, the national president of NAAT said the unions will decide if they will embark on strike or not after the July 4 NEC meeting.

“Although we are expecting a letter to give us update of what is happening, the truth is that the workers are interested in their money coming out as promised.

“The minister of labour is (was) meant to organise a meeting of stakeholders on May 29 on how the money can be paid but up till now we have not heard anything from him.”