The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has issued a strong warning that it will stop all activities in universities nationwide unless the salaries of its members, which have been withheld, are released.
This warning was given in response to the Federal Government’s decision to not pay SSANU members their salaries, causing a lot of dissatisfaction within the union.
The issue started when the Federal Government paid salaries to members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) but left out SSANU members.
Prof. Gbolahan Bolarin, the chairperson of ASUU at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, confirmed this situation in a conversation with Punch.
In an interview with Punch, Prof. Gbolahan Bolarin, the chairwoman of ASUU at the Federal University of Technology in Minna, acknowledged the start of these payments, saying, “Yes, it is true. Payment has started rolling in.”
The salaries that were not paid are from a strike that happened in 2022, lasting eight months, where both ASUU and SSANU members stopped working. Former President Muhammadu Buhari’s government enforced a ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy during the strike.
In a surprising move, President Bola Tinubu released four months of ASUU’s unpaid salaries in October 2023, leaving out SSANU.
The National President of SSANU, Mohammed Ibrahim, expressed disappointment in an interview with The PUNCH, pointing out the unfairness of the situation.
Ibrahim clarified that SSANU’s issue was not with ASUU getting paid, but with SSANU being left out of the compensation.
“It was a great injustice against SSANU,” he remarked.
Ibrahim said, “This is just terrible, we found out that only ASUU’s payment was approved. As it is, there is tension on all the campuses we are not angry that they are paying ASUU, but they should know that it is not only ASUU that went on strike.
“Why should our case be different? The government should pay everyone who works in the university. We can’t guarantee 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 palpable danger if SSANU are not paid their backlog.”
He further stated that only ASUU’s payment had been accepted, as confirmed by the Accountant General’s office and IPPIS.
He said, “We found out at the Chief Accountant General office that it was only ASUU that was approved, we also have confirmation from IPPIS that the payment does not include SSANU.”
He intimated that SSANU members will meet today (Tuesday) to discuss the development.
Ibrahim said, “Our members will meet tonight, or tomorrow morning to decide. We are under pressure; this is a clear injustice as no university can operate without the non-teaching staff.”
Also, National Vice-President, SSANU, Abdussobur Salaam, said, “The Joint Action Committee of NASU and SSANU should therefore not be held responsible should the wheel of administration and corporate governance be grounded to a halt, as we have exercised enough patience with the government, especially in the face of the harsh economic conditions occasioned by policies of the current administration led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
