The Association of Senior Staff of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Allied Educational Institutions (NASU) have extended their four-week strike for another month.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Joint Action Commission (JAC) of the two unions on Thursday, April 21.
The statement, which was signed by SSANU National President Mohammed Ibrahim and NASU General Secretary Peters Adeyemi, said the decision was made after continued silence from the Nigerian government on the unions’ demands.
They said the new development was a result of the directive to JAC from members on campuses across the country.
The statement read in parts: “You will recall that the first two-week warning strike began at midnight on Sunday, March 27, 2021, while the other two-week extension that began on Sunday, April 10, 2022 would expire at midnight. on Sunday April 24. 2022.
“Unfortunately, the government has remained mute and remains indifferent to the demands of the NASU and SSANU JAC.
“Stemmed from feedback received from our branches regarding resolutions taken that fully supported the ongoing strike and other actions to be taken by JAC leadership, this is to inform members that the strike has been extended by one month to begin. midnight on Sunday April 24, 2022 pending when the government would change its mind and be favorably disposed to our demands as highlighted in our letters dated March 1, 2022 and March 16, 2022 to the government representative, the Hon. of Labor and Employment.”
Lawsuits
SSANU National Vice President Abdussobur Salaam had listed the articles in said agreement to include the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, the payment of earned allowances, the usurpation of non-academic career positions by chancellors, the inclusion of the university staff school to the university community, non-payment of back minimum wages and funding of state universities.
He said university presidents had continued to defy a court order declaring professors at university staff schools to be integral members of the university community.
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He added that the government has only paid less than N8 billion of the N30 billion it has agreed to pay its members across the country as allowances.
“The memorandum of understanding that we had was that the renegotiation will be concluded within six weeks. And that was in February 2021. And if you count six weeks from then, we’ll be talking about sometime in May or maybe April. But here we are, a year later, we haven’t even been invited to a meeting despite our reminders.” he had said in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES.
Complication
The new development may have further dashed Nigerian university students’ hopes of resuming their studies soon.
The union’s academic counterpart, the Academic Staff at Universities Union (ASUU), had started its strike on February 14, 2022 and has continued to renew it with the latest extension scheduled to end on May 14.
However, there is no hope that the union will return to the classroom in May, as the union and the government have remained at loggerheads.
Various stakeholders have continued to challenge the Nigerian government and striking unions to find a middle ground and reopen universities. But Education Minister Adamu Adamu’s continued silence has also angered the public, with many Nigerians taking to social media to call for his removal.