By Cross Udo, Abuja
The Federal Government yesterday said it would continue to engage the two university-based unions, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), over their resolution to commence a seven-day warning strike from Monday, March 18, to ensure that they get their legitimate entitlement.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated this while fielding questions on whether the seven-day strike notice for non-teaching staff in public universities was discussed at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
The Minister, alongside some of his colleagues, briefed journalists on the outcome of the council meeting, but nothing was mentioned about the strike that commences Monday, March 18.
Asked whether the matter was discussed at the cabinet meeting, the Minister said it did not come up but added that the government was addressing the issue.
He said, “The Government will continue to engage them (SSANU and NASU). All the associations involved in that (planned strike), the government will continue to engage them to find a lasting solution to the problem.”
Asked why SSANU, NASU, and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) were excluded in the directive by President Bola Tinubu that the university workers who embarked on a prolonged strike in 2022 and their salaries withheld by Mohammed Buhari’s government as a result of the invocation of the “No work, no pay,” policy, should be paid four months’ salary, he said, the government would continue to engage with the unions to settle the problem.
He said, “The government will continue to engage them. They are all Nigerians. They are all working within Nigeria. The Nigerian government has respect for every worker in Nigeria, and we will continue to engage them.”
Asked why the unions were excluded when their counterparts in the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) were paid, he said, “The government will take every right step it deems necessary to ensure that everybody gets whatever is legitimate to him or her.”
Recall that the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of SSANU and NASU had in its resolution said it would commence a seven-day warning strike on Monday, March 18, and that if after the strike nothing was done, they would embark on an indefinite strike to cripple activities in the public universities.
