The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities(SSANU) has declared that it may down tools again and even make it indefinite if the Federal Government continue to delay the payment of members’ fourth month withheld salaries.
The union also declared that its seven-day warning strike together with the Non-Academic Staff Union( NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists(NAAT) over the same concern is ending at midnight on Sunday.
The National President of SSANU, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed, made this declaration at a stakeholders virtual forum organised by the Education Writers’ Association of Nigeria(EWAN) on Sunday evening.
EWAN is the body of newsmen across print, broadcast and online media organisations in Nigeria who cover the nation’s education sector.
Speaking further at the forum with a theme, “Withheld Salaries Vs Labour Crises: The Way Forward,” the SSANU boss said as of Sunday evening, the Federal Government was yet to meet any of their demands, including the one that bothers on their withheld four-months salaries.
He said the leadership of SSANU, NASU and NAAT met with the Federal Government’s team, led by the Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, within the week to resolve the matter and with the latter promised to pay the backlog of salaries arrears, the union cannot rely solely on such promise.
He said the Minister of Education only told them at the meeting that payment could happen any day without being definite about it. He noted it was not news that the government would make promises without fulfilling them, giving reference to many instances including the 2009 renegotiation agreement.
“So, we will go back now to our members at home and table the outcome of our meeting with them and also do the general review of our warning strike.
“We will then come up with what to do next if the government still fails to honour its promise.
“We have the right to go on strike once we follow the due process. It could be a warning strike just like the one that is ending this night( Sunday). We could picket our working places. We could also report to work without working and so forth. All are lawful in the labour law. So nobody can take them away from us.
“Though, it is not that the university workers including SSANU like to go on strike it is the government that always pushed us to apply that sanction. And it is unfortunate for the government to take serious matters with levity.
He said for government not to have paid them their withheld salaries by now was a gross injustice against them and that they would continue to fight for redress using all legitimate means to get justice. He said the best way to prevent an industrial crisis in the nation’s tertiary education subsector is for both the Federal and state governments to fund education well.
He emphasised that there are lots of challenges ranging from poor infrastructures, laboratories, classrooms, remuneration, and working conditions, to lack of autonomy that public universities are confronted with in the country.
He said the government would need to give education a deserved priority by properly investing in the sector to enable the country to overcome its myriad of social challenges as insecurity, Japa Syndrome, and youth restfulness, among others.
He said the union had lost no fewer than 100 members in the last one and half years to avoidable death due to lack of money to access good healthcare.
In his brief remark, the Chairman of EWAN, Mr Mojeed Alabi, said the essence of the stakeholders’ forum is to provide a workable solution that can bring permanent peace to the nation’s tertiary education subsector.
According to him, education is a key to development in any society and Nigeria cannot continue to toy with the sector if it truly wants genuine prosperity.
TRIBUNE
