- Expressed frustration at the government’s failure to pay four months’ withheld salaries
- Alleged refusal to implement key agreements from the 2022 Memorandum of Understanding
The Joint Action Committee of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and other Allied Institutions (NASU) has issued a fresh three-week ultimatum, threatening to commence an indefinite strike should the government fail to pay members’ withheld salaries.
This would be the third time in a year the two unions would threaten to embark on indefinite strike over the unresolved salaries of their members withheld by the Nigerian government in 2022 during a prolonged strike.
In a statement dated 13 September, the unions expressed frustration at the government’s failure to pay four months’ withheld salaries and alleged refusal to implement key agreements from the 2022 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
The statement was signed by the NASU General Secretary, Peters Adeyemi, and the SSANU President, Mohammed Ibrahim.
The statement noted that despite a six-week ultimatum issued in August, no action has been taken by the government to address these concerns, prompting the unions to issue what it termed “a final warning.”
“The meeting was shocked that almost 6 weeks after the ultimatum given to the government has elapsed, nothing concrete has come forth in respect of payment of the withheld salaries and the implementation of the agreement reached in Year 2022,” the statement reads in parts.
The unions’ demands include the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN-university workers’ agreement, payment of N50 billion as part payment of earned allowances, funding for state universities, a review of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), and a uniform career structure for non-teaching staff across universities.
In the press statement, the unions announced a ‘final three-week ultimatum’ starting from 17 September 2024, warning that if their demands are not met, they will commence an indefinite strike.
“It is in view of this that the leadership of JAC decided to put all our members in all branches of Universities and Inter-University Centres on notice that the Federal Government has been given a final ultimatum of 3 weeks from Tuesday, 17th September, 2024, to pay the withheld 4 months salaries and fully implement the agreement reached on 20th August, 2022, failing which members should proceed on indefinite strike action at the end of the expiration of the final ultimatum.”
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