The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has issued an ultimatum to the Federal Government, threatening a total shutdown of universities across the country and a nationwide protest on Tuesday to press home its demands.
SSANU and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) have been in talks with the Federal Government over the four months salary arrears owed their members. It had some months back embarked on a warning strike and most recently gave the government a two-week ultimatum to meet its demands.
But the union is accusing the Federal Government of making promises and not matching words with action, threatening to cripple activities on campuses nationwide if their demands are not met.
“So as very responsible leaders, what we have decided to do is that by Tuesday next week – that will be the ninth of July – we have directed our branches to hold protests all over the country in our branches to tell the world that something definitely is wrong somewhere that protest will take place in all our campuses,” SSANU President Mohammed Ibrahim said on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme on Friday.
“And then, we will continue with the engagements. And then we will also have a grand protest in Abuja on the 18th of July where we will picket the office of the minister of education, the minister of labour who has not even shown any sign of seriousness on the matter.”
According to the SSANU chief, if after the protests the group’s demands are unmet, they will take the next action.
“So at the moment, we have declared that we will protest at the branches, and then we will have a grand protest in Abuja,” he said on the show. “And thereafter, we will go on a full-blown strike that will be total, comprehensive, indefinite, and without any concession.”
