The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) Joint Action Committee (JAC) embarked on a nationwide protest on Thursday in a bid to force the implementation of some of the aging agreements that they signed with the Federal Government.
At Yakubu Gowon University (formerly University of Abuja) in Abuja, the protest was led by the SSANU chairman Comrade Nurudeen Yusuf, and the NASU chairperson Comrade Sadiya Ibrahim Hassan. The same was undertaken at the same time on other university campuses nationwide.
The unions alleged that the Federal Government was insincere, abandoned them, and repeatedly breached agreements dating back to 2022. While addressing journalists, Comrade Yusuf averred that the protest was unavoidable after several appeals, notices, and ultimatums were ignored.
They identified six key outstanding issues guiding the action: renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/NASU/SSANU agreements, non-payment of the 25 and 35 per cent approved increment in salaries, unequal release of the N50 billion earned allowances, non-payment of two months of withheld salaries in 2022, non-payment of third-party deductions, and abysmal welfare packages for non-academic university staff members.
Renegotiation of the 2009 agreements, to be renegotiated every three years, has been pending for years despite having constituted several committees, the unions said. “It is a never-ending procession of meetings with nothing done,” Yusuf described.
He threatened that the continuity of government inaction was pushing the university system towards the next shutdown. “This protest is to highlight the growing crisis in the university sector. The shattered promises of the government are unsustainable and have resulted in this inevitability,” he stated.
NASU chairman, Comrade Sadiya Hassan, blamed the government for the tendency to set up new committees instead of acting on agreements already made. “The last time we met was October 6, and instead of doing, another committee the Expanded Yayale Ahmed Committee was set up. The government knows all the facts; all we desire is implementation, beginning with releasing salaries withheld,” she stated.
Unions rejected assertions by the Education Minister that 80 per cent of promises by the government had been fulfilled. “That is not true. None of the six important issues has been resolved,” they retorted.
NASU National President Dr. Makolo Hasan, who was part of the protest, said that the persistent marginalization of non-academic staff is a breach of the 2022 collective bargaining agreement. He noted that ultimatums and warning strikes had been issued by the unions, but the government did not move.
“We have waited long enough. This protest is a warning, but in case the government does not take it seriously, we will intensify our action,” Hasan cautioned.
The unions requested the federal government to act quickly to avoid another nationwide shutdown of the universities.
