The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has threatened to paralyze activities in universities across the country if the Federal Government does not pay the salaries of its members that were withheld.
This was in response to the government’s decision to pay only the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday, leaving out SSANU from the payment of the withheld salaries.
The government had withheld the salaries of ASUU and SSANU when they went on a strike that lasted for eight months in 2022, invoking a ‘No Work, No Pay policy’ against them.
However, in October 2023, President Bola Tinubu approved the release of four out of the eight months of ASUU’s withheld salaries.
But the National President of SSANU, Mr Mohammed Ibrahim, expressed his displeasure about the union’s exclusion from the payment of the withheld salaries.
He said it was a gross injustice against SSANU, adding that the union was not angry that ASUU was paid, but it also deserved to be paid.
Ibrahim said, “This is very bad, we discovered that only ASUU’s payment was approved. There is tension on all the campuses. We are not angry that they are paying ASUU, but they should realize that ASUU was not the only one that went on strike.
“Why should we be treated differently? The government should pay everyone who works in the university. We cannot assure continuous peace in our universities. We have written to the Chief of Staff and Minister of Education and we escalated it to Nigeria Labour Congress. There is a clear danger if SSANU is not paid their backlog.”
He also said that it was verified at the office of the Accountant General and IPPIS that only ASUU’s payment was approved.
“We found out at the Chief Accountant General office that only ASUU was approved, we also have confirmation from IPPIS that the payment does not cover SSANU.”
He said that SSANU members would meet today (Tuesday) to decide on the matter.
Ibrahim said, “Our members will meet tonight, or tomorrow morning to decide. We are under pressure; this is a blatant injustice as no university can function without the non-teaching staff.”
Also, National Vice-President, SSANU, Abdussobur Salaam, said, “The Joint Action Committee of NASU and SSANU should not be blamed if the administration and corporate governance of the universities are brought to a standstill, as we have been patient enough with the government, especially in the midst of the harsh economic conditions caused by the policies of the current administration led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
Meanwhile, ASUU, Abuja zone, on Monday, mourned the death of some of its members.
It blamed the premature death on the unbearable hardship in the country worsened by lecturers’ low pay and poor working conditions.
The union, in a statement, said that at least 46 academics died in universities under the Abuja zone, which include the University of Abuja, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Federal University, Lafia, Nasarawa State University, Nasarawa and the Ibrahim Babaginda University, Lapai. The union said it recently lost a distinguished Professor of Fisheries, Johnson Oyero of the Federal University of Technology, Minna because he could not access quality healthcare.
