University workers declare three-day nationwide protest

Following what they described as the failure of the Federal Government to meet many of the contents of its various Memoranda of Understanding in respect of the actualization of the 2009 agreement both parties reached, university workers under the umbrella of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) have declared a three-day nationwide protest.

The protest, scheduled to hold between Monday, December 17 and Wednesday, 19, according to a statement issued by the union’s National Public Relations Officer, Mr. Salaam Abdussobur of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), is expected to hold across various states of the federation simultaneously.

SSANU noted that the decision to hold the protest was reached at its 35th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting which held at Enugu State University (ESUT) between Wednesday December 5 and Thursday 6th.

The statement reads in part: “On the payment of Earned Allowances, it appears that the letters being sent to the unions are a delay ploy by the Federal Ministry of Education as the letters in themselves are needless, because the unions had always made their positions known since the irregular disbursement of N23 Billion to ASUU in 2017. And that the delay in the payment had become a source of discomfort and agitation by members of the three unions under the Joint Action Committee, while it had also become a source of embarrassment for the leaderships.

“That the status of the workers in the university staff schools remained the same despite the National Industrial Court ruling of December 5, 2016 which had ruled that the workers in the University Staff Schools are employees of the Federal Government as the staff schools remain an integral part of the university system.”