The University of Uyo branch of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) have embarked on a two-week nationwide warning strike.
According to the union, the strike was to press home their demands from the federal government.
The warning strike commenced on the midnight of Sunday March 27, 2022.
The chairperson of JAC of NASU and SSANU, Comrade Dr. Anietie Attai, said the federal government has refused to look into their demands as contained in a letter sent by their national body to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, on March 16, 2022, which detailed their eight-point demands from the federal government.
According to her, some of the issues include inconsistency in the IPPIS payment platforms since 2020.
She said they have developed their own payment platform and urged the federal government to call for its integrity test, to ascertain it’s workability.
Non payment of Hazard allowance to workers, and non payment of the arrears of National minimum wage as well as poor funding of State Universities, especially the none teaching staff at the Edo State University Ekpoma, since 2020, were some other issues raised by the Unions.
Other demands, she said included delay in renegotiation of 2009 agreement between the JAC of NASU and SSANU with the federal government.
She said that some of the items in the agreement were stale and needs upwards review, to be in tandem with the current economic reality.
Dr. Attai disclosed that another issue was the usurping of the offices and responsibilities of non-academic staff by the teaching staff in the Universities.
The union leader further gave instances of the directorate of Students Affairs in the University of Uyo, being occupied by a Professor, referred to as Dean of Students Affairs, instead of a director in the University, who is a non-academic staff.
Attai said, “Teaching Staff, that are members of ASUU were employed by the federal government to lecture students in various Universities in Nigeria, not to drag positions with non-teaching staff, which distract them from their primary responsibilities.”
She appealed to the federal government to call members of ASUU and the university management to order, to avoid work place crisis.
She also appealed to the federal government to attend to their demands to enable them return to work.
While emphasising that the two weeks strike, must be total and comprehensive, the Chairman of NASU University of Uyo branch, Comrade Sunday Andrew, urged the federal government to take urgent action in a bid to rescue Nigerian university system from crumbling.
