FG, ASUU to convene meeting amid looming protest over unpaid salaries

• SSANU and NASU have announced a nationwide protest starting July 18 due to withheld four-month salaries
• The protests follow failed negotiations with government officials, detailed in a circular signed jointly by NASU's Peters Adeyemi and SSSANU's Mohammed Ibrahim
• The unions cite the government payment of salaries, which excludes non-teaching staff, as a primary reason for their planned protests

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) announced plans to meet with the Federal Government on Thursday, July 25, to address its unmet demands.

This comes as non-academic university staff declared a one-day protest on Tuesday, July 2, over withheld four-month salaries. This protest is a precursor to a nationwide protest scheduled for Thursday, July 18.

ASUU national president, Emmanuel Osodeke, speaks on meeting with FG amid Tuesday protest Photo credit: @Naija_PR
Source: Twitter

ASUU National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, confirmed the meeting on Sunday, July 7, as reported by The Punch.

He stated that July 25 is the implementation date agreed upon with the Federal Government.

ASUU holds protests at various campuses

In recent weeks, ASUU chapters across various campuses have been holding protests.

The protesting academics, joined by students, threatened further industrial action if the government failed to fulfil its promises.

The union also published an open letter to President Bola Tinubu, demanding full implementation of the 2009 Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Government.

Osodeke highlighted the protests' effectiveness, noting that they prompted the government to arrange a meeting and set a timeline to address the union's demands.

Demands, concerns of ASUU

The letter, published on June 20, 2024, detailed the union's grievances, which led to a nationwide strike on February 14, 2022, after failed attempts to resolve the issues with the government.

The unresolved issues include renegotiating the FGN/ASUU Agreement based on the Nimi Briggs CCommittee's 2021 draft, releasing withheld salaries from the 2022 strike, paying unpaid salaries to staff on sabbatical leave, and funding for public university revitalization.

Other concerns include Earned Academic Allowances, the proliferation of universities, the implementation of visitation panel reports, the illegal dissolution of Governing Councils, and replacing the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) with the University Transparency and Accountability Solutions (UTAS).

SSANU, NASU gears up for protest Tuesday

The unions representing non-academic staff members at universities have announced a nationwide protest beginning on Thursday, July 18, 2024, due to their withheld four-month salaries.

However, Vanguard reported that before the nationwide protest, all branches of the non-academic unions under the Joint Action Committee will stage protests at their respective branches on Tuesday.

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) declared their intent to protest after their negotiations with government officials failed.

This announcement was made in a circular jointly signed by Peters Adeyemi, General Secretary of NASU, and Mohammed Ibrahim, President of SSANU.

The circular instructed all branches of both unions to hold a mandatory general meeting today (July 8, 2024) to raise members' awareness of the government's responsiveness to their concerns.

Reasons for proposed protests

As the unions pointed out, the protests were triggered by the Federal Government's failure to pay their members withheld four-month salaries despite numerous meetings with the Minister of Education and the Minister of Labour.

Recall that the Nigerian government withheld salaries for academic and non-academic university staff following an eight-month industrial action in 2022 that disrupted university operations.

However, in October, President Bola Tinubu ordered the payment of four months withheld salaries to academic staff, excluding the non-teaching staff.

This decision reignited tensions between the non-academic staff unions and the government.

Since the announcement, SSANU and NASU have protested the "elective payments" and demanded inclusion.

324 UNIPORT professors protest over 30-month allowances

In another report, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Port Harcourt branch, has expressed dissatisfaction with the Federal government for reviewing working conditions for its members.

Legit.ng reported that the about 325 senior lecturers who were promoted to professorial positions had yet to receive their promotion arrears, which had lasted 30 to 40 months.

Source: Legit.ng