Unpaid and Unhappy: NASU, SSANU Demand 4-Month Salary with 7-Day Ultimatum to FG

The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) have issued a 7-day ultimatum to the federal government to pay them the four months withheld salaries or face the consequences.

This ultimatum comes after President Bola Tinubu directed that workers in the public universities should be paid the withheld salaries that the previous administration refused to pay as a result of the prolonged strike they embarked upon in 2022.

While the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation has complied with the President’s directive by paying the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), nothing has been said about the three non-teaching staff unions of NASU, SSANU, and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).

This development has generated some level of tension in the universities as the three unions have warned that they may not guarantee industrial harmony if the government fails to do the needful.

In a joint statement, the General Secretary of NASU, Comrade Peters Adeyemi, and the President of SSANU, Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, warned that the unions should not be held responsible should the wheel of administration and corporate governance be grounded to a halt in the University sector if the government failed to comply with the ultimatum.

The two unions had previously sent protest letters to the Chief of Staff to the President and the Honourable Minister of Education on February 13, 2024, but the federal government has remained quiet and refused to take any step towards addressing this very sensitive issue.

The pressure on the unions from their members has intensified, and they have done everything possible within their ambit to maintain industrial peace and tranquillity.

The various feelers the unions are getting from their members in the Universities and Inter-University Centres indicate that they can no longer guarantee and be able to sustain industrial peace in the University sector.

If nothing is done by the Federal Government to positively address this situation and respond to the previous letters, the members of the two Unions may be forced to meet soon to take all lawful and stringent decisions on the matter.