STRIKE: NASU, SSANU HOLD MEETINGS
The unions said, despite various letters, engagements, and assurances from the government, the withheld salaries remain unpaid, leading to growing frustration among the workers.
“We view it as an act of insincerity and neglect on the part of the government to the yearnings and aspirations of our members. This also negates the spirit of collective bargaining and builds distrust,” the union wrote in the letter.
JAC noted that the government’s deafening silence and failure to pay the withheld salaries is “creating a high level of agitations and contentions among our members in the universities and inter-university centres such that we can no longer guarantee industrial peace and harmony on university campuses.”
They also cautioned that failure to comply not later than two weeks from the date of the correspondence will leave them with no option but to “shut down the universities and inter-university centres.”
SSANU NEC meeting
The NEC meeting of SSANU comprises the union’s branch chairpersons, secretaries and treasurers, zonal chairpersons, secretaries and treasurers, and national officers. It serves as the supreme organ of the union but takes directives from the branch congresses.
According to the union President, Mr Ibrahim, the meeting, scheduled between Thursday and Friday, will appraise the issues and make recommendations for the various branches to discuss at the congresses.
The President, however, said he could not preempt the decision of its members, but “I am sure that my members are agitated because their patriotism has been taken for cowardice.”
The Chairman of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) chapter of the union, Olusola Falowo, confirmed that his chapter would hold its congress on Monday to consider the recommendations at the NEC.
“Almost every other chapter will do the same between Monday and Tuesday ahead of the JAC meeting scheduled for Thursday. As I am talking to you now, the NASU congress is holding in my school over the same matter,” Mr Falowo said.
Other union members who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES on the condition of anonymity confirmed that there was no going back on the decision to declare an indefinite strike. They said three months after the suspension of the warning strike, the government has refused to accede to their demands.
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