N40bn Allowance: SSANU, NASU Threaten Strike

The Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) on Wednesday said the unions might be forced to embark on strike if the Federal Government fails to meet their demands by Thursday.

The President of SSANU, Mohammed Ibrahim made the intention of the unions known while featuring on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme.

AllNews had reported that the unions had threatened a three-day nationwide protest on Tuesday over the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and their demands for an equitable share of the N40 billion ‘Earn Allowance’ to university-based unions, among others.

While the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, justified the amount promised lecturers out of the N40bn, non-academic unions have since described the Federal Government’s sharing formula as illogical and a "divide and rule" tactic.

The union kicked against the N30bn promised ASUU, saying the sharing formula was 75 per cent (N30bn) for the lecturers and 25 per cent for other unions.

Speaking at the interview, Ibrahim said, “The major aim of our protest is to sensitise government that look, you have a problem. The problem is that you are not honouring agreements.

"From agreements, you have moved to MoUs and MoUs are becoming just a charade – you sit down and take tea and the MoUs will never see the light of the day.

“After day 3, we will meet and appraise the situation and let the world know our next line of action. But whenever you see the two unions NASU and SSANU meet, any decision we take will be in the best interest of the students and our membership.”

READ MORE: ASUU N40bn Allowance: NASU Begins Nationwide Protest

The SSANU president said the option of industrial action cannot be overruled, adding that the government caused the problem at hand.

He said, “In the labour laws, the strike is not an abnormal thing. We can also go on strike. But whenever you see us go on strike, it is the last option.

"We don’t just jump at strike; we are not strike-triggered unions, we go on strike when it becomes inevitable. I will not foreclose that if the government does not listen, which I don’t want to believe because engagement has already started, we will go on strike.

“Government is making this problem self-induced. In the first place, if the government is serious about peace, harmony and tranquillity in the system, it shouldn’t have given the money in the name of union; it should have given it to the universities because board members of ASUU, NASU, SSANU are staffers of the universities.

“If these monies were given to the university managements, all these hullabaloos would not be there because the right thing will be done. But when you call out a union and say I am giving you this, when have unions become institutions of governance? Unions are supposed to be pressure bodies.”