Members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), on Tuesday, staged protests within public university campuses nationwide, demanding the immediate release of their withheld salaries.
In Abuja, protesters gathered at the entrance of the University of Abuja (UniAbuja), carrying placards with various inscriptions and calling on the Federal Government to release their withheld salaries and address their other outstanding demands.
Similar protests occurred at the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) in Imo State, where aggrieved workers marched around the campus, pressing home their demands.
Our correspondent observed that the atmosphere was charged with discontent as workers voiced their grievances.
SSANU and NASU members at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) in Kwara State also joined the protest, urging political leaders to reduce governance costs and cut down on their opulent lifestyles to meet the financial demands of the unions.
Leaders and members of the two unions held a congress followed by a rally across various university campuses. They questioned why the Federal Government has failed to meet their demands since 2009, stressing the urgency to avoid a total breakdown of university education across the country.
SSANU National President, Makolo Hassan, had reaffirmed on Monday that the protests would proceed as planned, highlighting the Federal Government’s failure to address their demands despite a prior warning strike.
The protests came after a two-week ultimatum issued by NASU and SSANU in June expired. Earlier in March, both unions had embarked on a one-week warning strike to protest their eight-month withheld salaries, during which administrative activities in public universities were paralyzed as hostels and university gates were locked, and electricity supply was cut off by disgruntled non-academic staff.
The unions criticised the Federal Government for paying withheld salaries to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members while neglecting the non-academic unions. All unions had embarked on an eight-month strike in 2022 to demand better welfare packages. The administration of the then President Muhammadu Buhari invoked a ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy, but President Bola Tinubu last October approved the release of four of the eight months of withheld salaries to ASUU members.
SSANU and NASU accused the Federal Government of unfair treatment and discrimination for failing to pay their members like their academic counterparts.
Education Minister, Prof. Tahir Mamman, had in April attributed the non-payment to a “communication problem,” insisting that non-academic staff members were not discriminated against. He promised that non-academic staff would receive half of their withheld salaries upon the President’s approval, but SSANU and NASU members reported that they have not received any payment three months after the minister’s assurance.
The unions have called on the Federal Government to expedite action in implementing their demands to prevent further disruptions in the nation’s tertiary university system.
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