The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian
Universities (SSANU) has threatened to shut
down all federal and state universities for one
week in December as a warning signal to the
Federal Government. After a meeting at the weekend in Uyo,
Akwa Ibom State, the National Executive Council
(NEC) of SSANU warned government not to
accept any recommendation that would lead to
reduction in the workforce of non-teaching staff
in the universities as the NEEDS Assessement Committee report advised. They said any move in that direction will plunge
the education sector into another major crisis
and the warning strike was a sign on what to expect in 2013. The one week warning strike which will
begin December 10, 2012 will begin first with a
crucial meeting on December 3. SSANU, the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU)
and the National Association of Academic
Technologists (NAAT) announced they would
work together to mobilise workers. ThisDay Live reports: SSANU National President, Samson Ugwoke,
who made the declaration shortly after the
meeting, warned of a looming industrial unrest
in 2013 should government fail to make
adequate provision for the payment earned
allowance, as spelt out in the 2009 agreement between the Federal Government and the three
non-teaching staff unions in the 2013 budget. He said the warning strike will be a prelude to
what Nigerians should expect in 2013 if the
unions’ demands are not met. “Anybody talking of touching the numbers of
our members in the universities is playing with
fire. We will not condone that. This is a warning
to the government, any committee
recommending reduction in the workforce of
non-teaching staff in universities should be resisted by SSANU and other unions. It is a
warning to the Federal Government; they
should allow the status quo to remain to ensure
peace in the university system. “On the Earned Allowance. This time around, we
are sending an early warning. I made it clear
that until a provision is made in the 2013
Budget for the payment of earned allowance,
nobody can and will guarantee peace in the
university sector come 2013. “I am appealing to the Federal Government to
hear us very well, if that money is not included
in the budget and paid, there will be no peace in
the university system. We will close down the
universities for one week in December as a
warning strike to the government,” Ugwoke said. A communiqué read by SSANU president gave
government a seven-day ultimatum to attend to
all the demands of the union on the Report of
the Universities NEEDS Committee and SSANU
Earned Allowances effective December 3, 2012
or risk an industrial action. The communique reads: “NEC-in-session
critically examined the Universities Needs
Assessment Committee Report presented to
President Goodluck Jonathan for approval and
observed that all the stakeholders were not
involved in the activities that brought about the report. “Thus, NEC viewed the absent of relevant
stakeholders like SSANU as a serious procedural
defect and a lapse which has led to the
inequities that the report represent. NEC wondered how retrenchment and
deployment of some non-teaching staff from
the universities to Federal Ministries would
address the perennial problems that are
bedeviling the Nigerian university system. “NEC-in-session, therefore, called on the Federal
Government to disregard the report for the
sustenance of the comparative peace being
enjoyed by the universities and in the
alternative, set up another committee with
membership drawn from all stakeholders including staff unions to assess the needs of the
universities, and come up with a broad-based
assessment to the Federal Government


source : ynaija