EducationNewsNigeriaSSANU, NASU threaten to shutdown all universities

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, and the Non-academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions, NASU, have threatened a total shutdown of the universities in the country.

The unions have given the government one week — this week — to clear the backlog of unpaid salaries for the last four months.

SSANU and NASU accuse the government of neglecting an agreement made in 2022 and treating the unions with “disdain” by showing more concern about their academic counterpart, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.

“In 2022, all the university-based unions were on strike – four of us. For us in NASU and SSANU, we went on strike on the 27th of March and we called it off on the 27th of August after the intervention of the then Minister of Education, Mal Adamu Adamu,” Mohammed Ibrahim, SSANU president, said at a televised press interview on Sunday.

“We had an agreement that we signed with the government to review the situation and ensure that justice is done. Today, as I speak to you, our colleagues in ASUU have been able to get theirs and no one is saying anything about NASU and SSANU.”

He said strike has become the only option available to the unions to push their demand because of the present economic crisis.

“No union member wants to go on strike but when you are pushed to the wall, what would you do? You have to push back. You can see what is happening in the country. The economy is in the doldrums and everybody is suffering,” Ibrahim said.

“Most of our universities are located far outside the township and our members have to commute every day. Fuel cannot be accessed, food is scarce, our medicals can not be attended to, and members are suffering quite clearly.”

The SSANU president noted that should the unions embark on the work strike, it would be devastating.

In his words, “We are in charge of security, we are in charge of administration, we are in charge of medicals, we are in charge of hostels, we are in charge of electricity, we are in charge of everything apart from teaching. So, once our members down tools, no university can function in Nigeria.”

He added, “We all know that there is no university that can function without the non-teaching staff. We are populated by professionals, we oil the engine in the administration of every university and therefore treating a segment of staff with disdain does not speak well of the system.”