Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) is on strike. They say because the N25 billion paid by the Federal government as earned allowances had their teaching counterparts take about 80 percent.
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) embarked on several strikes to drive home their demand, which led to a payment that has got non academic staff talking. As a result, the Bayero University, Kano branch, on Monday, joined its non teaching staff union counterparts all over the country to embark on a 5 day warning strike over the federal government’s failure to fulfill its agreement reached with the unions.
Chairman of SSANU, BUK branch, Comrade Haruna Aliyu said the strike followed a directive by a Joint Action Committee (JAC) of two non teaching staff unions, SSANU and NASU that all branches should embark on the strike at the expiration of 14 day ultimatum earlier given to government which ended on Sunday, 18th August, 2019.
” The strike is total and comprehensive as all our members are directed to comply , even the health centre is not spared, ” said the Chairman. With reports saying almost all Nigerian universities are on strike, this means academic activities have been halted.
The BUK Chapter conducted a Congress Meeting, Monday, and told the members that the strike was as a result of federal government’s bias in paying money for earned allowances, in which it paid only 20% of the 25 billion released recently and gave ASUU 80%.
He said other reasons were because of government’s refusal to reinstate SSANU members who were sacked by government and the Industrial Court ruled that they be reinstated back to their work since 2016, but government is yet to comply with the court order.
Incessant strikes have stalled progressive development in Nigerian universities. They are always on strike for different reasons but mostly due to condition of service. The other issue canvassed by the striking workers is the government’s refusal to sit with the non teaching staff unions to renegotiate the 2009 agreement despite agreeing to do so.
