NASU, SSANU extend strike by two months

Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities, SSANU, and Non-Academic Staff Union, NASU, have extended their industrial action by additional two months.

This was revealed via a circular sent to branch chairmen of the two unions and made available to newsmen in Ilorin on Friday.

The circular which was dated June 21, 2022, was jointly signed by the General Secretary of NASU, Prince Peters. A. Adeyemi, and Mohammed. N. Ibrahim.

The circular remarked that the unions have recorded some successes on the issues in dispute but said ” in view of the fact that government is still a long way from effectively resolving the issues in contention, it is only expedient that we allow the process to be fully concluded before directing the end of the strike.

“Consequently, you are hereby informed that the strike has been extended by two months within which we are hoping that all the contentious issues would have been effectively laid to rest.

“The two months extension is with effect from Friday, 24th June 2022,” the circular stated.

“We have also recorded success in the restoration of Responsibility Allowance to deserving members of NASU and SSANU, ditto, the correction in the payment of Hazard Allowance from N150,000 to N360,000 per annum to deserving members in the SSANU document.

“However, there has been no commitment by the government to pay the arrears of Earned Allowances being owed our members,” the circular disclosed.

” We have continued to follow up on the resolution reached with the government at the Tripartite Plus meeting held on Thursday, 12th May, 2022, with respect to the testing of our University Peculiar Personnel and Payroll System (U3PS) software with the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA.

“The three payment solutions, U3PS, UTAS and IPPIS, are currently being subjected to daily tests which have spanned three weeks so far and are still ongoing,” the circular further informed.

The circular appreciated members of the unions for believing and trusting in the strike action even when salaries are denied, threats and harassment were extended, saying “as we are slowly inching closer to victory and disregard various rumours and misinformation, especially on social media, but rely on the national leaders for factual and true information on the status of the ongoing struggle.”