SSANU, NASU Strike Paralyses Nigerian Universities
The Joint Action Committee (JAC)’s instruction to its members to embark on a strike action to press home their demand on Monday paralysed activities in Nigerian universities.
The JAC, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non Academic Staff Union of Universities and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) have said that the strike action will not end anytime soon as compliance level hits 90 percent.
It was learnt that academic activities across most universities in the country were shut down.
The Chairman of SSANU who also heads the JAC, Comrade Samson Chijikoe, adjudged the strike action “successful”, owing to “the high compliance level.”
According to him, compliance ranged from the University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, Federal University of Technology Akure, Federal University of Agriculture Markurdi and University of Port Harcourt.
“Generally speaking, across the country, we have recorded over 90 per cent compliance” he stated, noting that the action may not end soon as the unions are yet to get any invitation from the federal government.
“We are not seeing the end of the strike soon” , he said, adding that “to the best of my knowledge, as at now, we have not been invited and as far as we are concerned, we will be on strike until an invitation comes up and we are able to resolve the issue on ground.
“Even if we are invited and we are not able to have something tangible out of it, the strike will go on. Our people are tired of strikes and tired of all these games by the government and because of this, we have a more determined membership right now” Chijioke stated.
Although University of Lagos had at the weekend released the schedule of activities for the registration of UTME candidate admitted on its merit list, the strike action paralyzed activities in the institutions as it was gathered that the University generator was shut down and most offices closed down.
The JAC of SSANU, NASU and NAAT had at the weekend, directed their members in a letter to embark on an indefinite strike action commencing yesterday, Monday, December 4, 2017.
The action, according to the letter, was necessitated by the inability of the Federal Government to clarify the criteria for the disbursement of the N23 billion released by the government to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) while only pittance was allocated to the three non teaching staff unions.