The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) have declared that there is no going back on their planned protest scheduled for Tuesday over unpaid salary arrears.
The unions have organized the protest to press for the payment of the salary arrears owed to their members.
Despite hopes that the government might intervene to prevent the protest, which is set to be held nationwide at their branches, NASU National President Makolo Hassan confirmed the demonstrations would proceed.
“No, apart from the failed meeting of Thursday, we have not heard anything from anybody, and our members across the country met in their various branches today, and they will hit the ground running as from tomorrow,” Makolo said.
He explained that the Federal Government had not addressed the unions’ demands following their warning strike some months back.
After Tuesday’s protest, the unions plan to take their demonstrations to Abuja.
“And like you rightly said, we will appraise it by next week Thursday. On the 18th, we are going to do the national protest in Abuja and after the national protest, if nothing is done, we will get back to the table. The two unions will provide the next line of action,” the NASU chief added.
The unions had embarked on a warning strike in March to push for their demands. However, subsequent deliberations with the Federal Government failed to resolve the issues.
In June, NASU and SSANU issued a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government to meet their demands, threatening to shut down campuses nationwide if the demands were not met.
“We, therefore, demand the immediate payment of the four (4) months withheld salaries to our members not later than two (2) weeks from the date of this correspondence; failing which we will be left with no option but to shut down the Universities and Inter-University Centres,” part of a letter signed by NASU General Secretary Peters Adeyemi and SSANU President Mohammed Ibrahim read.
