University Workers to Hold Three-Day Nationwide Protest
University workers under the umbrella of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) have declared three-day nationwide protest.
The protest, scheduled to hold between Monday, December 17 and Wednesday, 19, according to a statement issued by the union’s National Public Relations Officer, Mr. Salaam Abdussobur of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), is expected to hold across various states of the federation simultaneously.
SSANU noted that the decision to hold the protest was reached at its 35th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting which held at Enugu State University (ESUT) between Wednesday December 5 and Thursday 6.
The statement reads in part; “On the payment of Earned Allowances, it appears that the letters being sent to the unions are a delay ploy by the Federal Ministry of Education as the letters in themselves are needless, because the unions had always made their positions known since the irregular disbursement of N23 Billion to ASUU in 2017. And that the delay in the payment had become a source of discomfort and agitation by members of the three unions under the Joint Action Committee, while it had also become a source of embarrassment for the leaderships.
“That the status of the workers in the university staff schools remained the same despite the National Industrial Court ruling of December 5, 2016 which had ruled that the workers in the University Staff Schools are employees of the Federal Government as the staff schools remain an integral part of the university system; that the Federal Government has continued to show disdain and contempt for court rulings, the case of the Staff School workers being an example; and that the members of staff domiciled in the university staff schools, numbering more than 2,000, have been subjected to trauma, insecurity and denials of salaries, some going to upward of a year, a situation that the union cannot continue to accept.”
The union, therefore, advised all its branch chairmen to convene branch congresses to adequately carry along members on the decision. “Members should be fully mobilised to participate in the protests, while Branches are advised to carry along the media and the security agencies accordingly.”
