The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Education Institutions NASU) have announced the suspension of the unions’ strike actions.
This was disclosed by the leadership of SSANU and NASU over the weekend in Abuja after a brief meeting with Adamu Adamu, the minister of education.
However, according to the statement from SSANU and NASU the suspension which will last for two months will be taking effect from Wednesday, August 24.
“The two months allow the government to implement the agreements reached.
“Part of the agreement is the decision of the government to set aside the sum of N50 billion for the payment of earned academic and earned allowances, the cogent decision on the University Peculiar Personnel Payroll System (UPPPS), the release of the white paper on university visitation panel and funding of the universities.
“On the poor funding of federal institutions, the Minister said he directed the National Universities Commission (NUC) to ensure that all the schools are up-to-date on what they are supposed to do, otherwise sanctions will be visited on any institution that defaults,” the statement read in part.
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Besides, the statement revealed that the federal government through the minister assured the union that none of its members who participated in the strike would be victimised.
“The minister said President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to devout 15 percent of the national budget to education.
“On the salary payment system, the minister said the alternative payment systems provided by ASUU JAC of NASU and SSANU did very well. He added that the federal government is awaiting the report of the technical committee it set up before taking action on the matter.”
Meanwhile, the federal government has unveiled new payment plans for the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The decision of the government was made public by the minister of education.
According to the statement from the Adamu Adamu members of ASUU will not be paid for the six months they did not work.
“The federal government will not be reneging on its ‘no work, no pay’ policy as a deterrent to other workers who might want to adopt strike action as a means of making their grievances known to the government,” the minister said.
Moreover, the minister confirmed that the federal government had committed N50 billion to pay earned allowances for members of SSANU, NASU, and ASUU. At the same time, activities in the public institutions will still be limited to non-academic issues due to the ongoing strike by the lecturers.
In addition, the federal government has approved another N100 billion for the university unions as part of the 2009 agreement.
However, Emmanuel Osodeke, the national president of ASUU reacting to the minister’s statement said the union will not accept the federal government’s position on that.
“He is joking. If they fail to pay, we will not teach those students; we won’t make up for that period. We will start a new session (2022/2023). We won’t conduct examinations; we will start a fresh session,” he said.
