nasu
We May Resume Strike Action Soon – Nigerian Universities
NEWS DIGEST – The Joint Action Committee of Nigerian Universities consisting of NASU, SSANU and NAAT have warned the Federal Government that it may resume strike actions it suspended months ago.

The union is also unhappy with the rate government is giving approvals for establishment of new universities, saying resources should be concentrated on raising standard of existing ones.

In a statement sent to the NEWS DIGEST on Thursday, the angry workers urged Nigerians to ask the Federal Government to fulfil their promises.

The workers, who are members of three unions, NASU, SSANU, and NAAT, suspended their strike on March 15, three month and 10 days after it began.

Before suspending the strike, Samson Ugwoke, the national chairman of the Joint Action Committee of the three unions, at a press briefing on March 13 had warned the unions would not hesitate to resume it if government reneged on the agreement.

In a statement on Thursday signed by Mr Ugwoke and spokesperson of SSANU, Abdussobur Salaam, the unions said said Nigerians should appeal to the Government to see reasons why the agreement reached should be respected if strike action would not be appreciated.

They decried the reluctance of the federal government to implement the Memorandum of Understanding seven weeks after it was signed by the two parties.

According to the statement, SSANU at its 33rd Regular Meeting on May 10 and May 11 at Bayero University Kano, deliberated extensively on critical issues affecting the union, the educational sector, university sub-sector, and the nation as a whole.

The unions expressed disappointment that government has not implemented some aspects of the 2009 Agreement and other MoUs it entered into with university-based non- teaching staff unions.

According to the unions, the situation is an invitation to anarchy.

They also noted the continued disobedience of government to the National Industrial Court judgment of December 5, 2016 on university staff schools.

“NEC notes that this development is unbecoming of a democratic government supposedly run under the rule of law. It has become the penchant of Government to choose which court judgments to obey and which to disregard. In cases where an attempt is made to obey court judgments, implementation is done selectively and at whim”, the union said in the statement.

The Unions also said the approval of Universities has become very cheap for the Government

“almost become like constituency projects, as almost every senator seems to be sponsoring a bill for the establishment or upgrade of an institution to a university in his or her constituency.”

The union said the two owner states of LAUTECH (Oyo and Osun) are yet to reinstate the monthly personnel allocations to the Ogbomoso-based institution.

“We support the directive barring federal universities from charging tuition fees. Government may have directed the stoppage of tuition fees, university managements may spread the costs of the stopped tuition fees on other ancillary fees such as Acceptance
Fees, Caution Fees, Medical Fees, among others”, the statement said.

It would be recalled that The NEWS DIGEST reported that the university workers had ended negotiation with the Federal Government seven weeks ago.

Joint Action Committee is alleging disparity in payment of earned allowances to Academic workers and non-Academic workers amongst other concerns.

Share your views in the comments section below.

Follow us on Twitter: @thenewsdigestng