The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) is poised to shut down universities tomorrow due to the government’s non-payment of four months’ withheld salaries.
Two weeks ago, the Joint Action Committee (JAC), which includes SSANU and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), gave the Federal Government a two-week deadline to pay the withheld salaries.
Out of the four university-based unions that went on strike in 2022, only the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has received payment from the Federal Government, leaving the other three unions unpaid.
Following its 48th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at the University of Benin, SSANU issued a communique threatening to withdraw services if the government fails to pay the withheld salaries by the end of the ultimatum tomorrow.
JAC will meet tomorrow to assess the government’s response and decide on the next course of action.
SSANU President, Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, criticized the government for what he described as unprecedented insensitivity and deliberate attempts to create discord in the university system through a divide-and-rule policy.
The communique stated: “NEC in session once again expresses utmost dismay at the unprecedented level of Government’s insensitivity and deliberate resolve to cause chaos in the university system by adopting the divide and rule policy to set unions on a collision course through preferential treatment of one union over others.”
SSANU and other unions were forced to strike in 2022 because the government refused to honor a Collective Bargaining Agreement. Despite signing a non-victimization clause at the end of the strike, the government has selectively paid the withheld salaries.
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