The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) said the union will not back down on its nationwide strike.
SSANU President, Mohammed Ibrahim stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) said the union will sustain its ongoing nationwide strike over its unmet demands on the part of the Federal Government.
The staff body threatened to shut down hostels and power supply in universities across the country if the Federal Government fails to meet its demands before next Monday, March 18, 2024. According to the SSANU president, his members including Vice Chancellors, registrars and bursars have not been paid 2022 arrears.
Ibrahim stated, “To surprise you, even Vice Chancellors are involved in this because VCs have not been paid, registrars have not been paid, bursars have not been paid.”
He said there are some universities that are currently holding their semesters’ association but “it’s quite unfortunate that we have to take this painful decision. Some of us also have out children in these schools but when we strike, everything is grounded”.
The SSANU President also lamented to the Federal Government for paying withheld salaries to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) while neglecting other unions like SSANU and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU).
He alleged that the office of the Accountant General, through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) office, has been treating SSANU and NASU with unfair despite that the President granted waivers that all unions which embarked on the industrial action in 2022 be paid. ibrahim blamed the crisis on what he called a misplacement of priority, saying that the university is a chain and “you don’t treat a group different and others indifferently.”
Recall that both SSANU and NASU declared a seven-day warning strike, effective March 18, 2024 to demand the payment of four months of their members’ withheld salaries.
