University unions may be heading for another round of industrial action that may disrupt academic activities with the alleged decision of the Federal Government to pay the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) the four months withheld salaries during the last strike.
Already, the Joint Action Committee (JAC), of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), have written to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajiabiamila on the implications of the decision of the government to single out ASUU for the payment in exclusion of the other three unions.
The protesting unions, NASU and SSANU are kicking against their exclusion from the payment.
In a leaked memo to the Chief of Staff dated February 13, 2024, SSANU and NASU warned that if the government goes ahead with the exclusion policy, the two unions should not be held liable for any disruption in the academic calendar.
The unions warned that as a result of the injustice done to its members by the government, it would be difficult to guarantee the peaceful atmosphere that is currently being experienced in the universities and inter-university centres.
The unions appealed to the government to do the needful by paying its members four months’ outstanding salaries like their counterparts who are academic staff union members.
The memo titled, ‘Protest letter over the exclusion of non-teaching staff from the payment of outstanding four months salaries,’ was signed by Prince Peters Adeyemi, General Secretary, NASU, and Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, President, SSANU.
Part of the protest letter reads: “We write to draw the attention of the Chief of Staff to the President to the privileged information at our disposal that directive has been given to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to direct the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) Office to release four (4) months salaries out of the outstanding salaries owed the members of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) excluding other staff who belong to other Unions in the Universities and Inter-University Centres.
“These other unions are the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).
“It is quite unfortunate that in spite of the high hope and aspiration of our members as a result of a press release by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity on 20th October 2023, after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting that the Federal Government under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has granted a waiver to the ‘No Work, No Pay’ to ASUU and other Educational Sector Unions.
“It is in this respect therefore that we write to immediately call the attention of your exalted office to this impending unfair treatment of Non-Teaching staff in the Universities and Inter-University Centre against their Academic counterpart and to say unequivocally that being an Academic or Non-Teaching staff in a University or Inter-University Centres is a matter of choice of vocation and as such this indiscriminate and undue favouritism tilted toward the academic staff against the non-teaching staff should be halted by this Government in the interest of justice, fairness, and equity.”
