The Senior Employees Affiliation of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has declared that it was pressured to embark on a nationwide strike after exhausting all efforts to resolve the problem of withheld salaries with the Federal Authorities.
SSANU President, Mohammed Ibrahim, disclosed this on Monday throughout an interview on Channels Tv Information Observe programme, stressing that members had been “pushed to the wall” by unfulfilled guarantees and stalled negotiations.
The Joint Motion Committee of SSANU and the Non-Educational Employees Union of Instructional and Related Establishments (NASU) started the commercial motion to demand cost of 4 months’ withheld salaries, improved remuneration, earned allowances, and the implementation of the 2009 agreements with the federal government. The strike has introduced operations to a halt in universities nationwide.
Ibrahim recalled that a number of makes an attempt to have interaction with the federal government had failed, forcing the unions to take drastic motion. He defined, “In July, on the seventeenth, we organised a number of protests in Abuja. Later, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) raised the problem with the president throughout discussions concerning the new minimal wage.”
He added, “At that assembly, the president directed that fifty% of the withheld salaries be paid. However three months have handed, and the promise stays unfulfilled. We additionally had conferences with the ministers of schooling, who assured us that the salaries can be paid, however nothing has modified.”
With the unions working out of persistence, Ibrahim mentioned SSANU and NASU members convened conferences throughout branches, resulting in the choice to strike. “Our members had been informed to stay affected person, however we now have now reached the breaking level. All actions—bursary, registry, works and upkeep, safety, and scholar affairs—are suspended till funds are made,” he acknowledged.
The SSANU president indicated that the strike can be known as off as soon as funds are made. “The previous minister of schooling made overtures to us earlier than leaving workplace. This morning, I obtained a name from the minister-designate requesting a gathering. Nevertheless, the strike is a course of, and we might want to meet as union leaders earlier than making any selections.”
He clarified that though union leaders are presently outdoors Abuja, efforts are underway to organise a gathering. “If the federal government makes the funds at present, the strike will probably be known as off instantly since salaries are paid through digital switch,” Ibrahim concluded.
