Nationwide Protests Erupt Over Unpaid Salaries, SSANU, NASU Demand Action [PICTURES]

SSANU, NASU Take to the Streets, Demand Payment of Withheld Salaries

Nationwide Protests Against Withheld Salaries Are Held by SSANU and NASU...

NASU and SSANU hold nationwide protests over withheld salaries, demand prompt payment and equal treatment with academic staff, accuse Federal Government of discrimination and unfair treatment.

On Tuesday, members of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) organized protests across public university campuses in the country, calling for the prompt release of their paychecks that had been withheld.

Protesters gathered at the University of Abuja (UniAbuja) entrance in Abuja. They hoisted placards with various slogans, demanding that the Federal Government refund their unpaid salaries and attend to their other unmet demands.

Similar demonstrations took place in Imo State's Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), when irate employees marched the campus, hammering home their demands.

Members of SSANU and NASU at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) in Kwara State participated in the demonstration as well, calling for political figures to scale back on their lavish lifestyles and lower governance expenses in order to satisfy the unions' budgetary requests.

The two unions' leaders and members met for a congress, and then they staged a march on several college campuses. They emphasized the need to act quickly to prevent a complete collapse of higher education in the nation and questioned why the federal government has not complied with their demands since 2009.

On Monday, Makolo Hassan, the national president of SSANU, reiterated that the protests would go forward as scheduled, emphasizing the Federal Government's refusal to meet their requests in spite of a previous warning strike.

After a two-week ultimatum issued by SSANU and NASU in June expired, protests broke out. Both unions had earlier in March initiated a one-week warning strike in protest of their eight months of unpaid salaries. During this time, administrative activities in public universities were rendered impossible as dormitories and university gates were locked, and irate non-academic staff members cut off the electricity supply.

The Federal Government was accused of discrimination and unfair treatment by SSANU and NASU for not paying their members equally to those in academia.

Prof. Tahir Mamman, the minister of education, had stated in April that non-academic staff workers were not subjected to discrimination and attributed the non-payment to a “communication problem.” Three months after the minister's assurance, SSANU and NASU members complained that they still haven't received any payment. He had promised that non-academic staff members that half of their withheld salaries will be returned with the President's permission.

The unions have demanded that the Federal Government hasten the implementation of their requests in order to stop more disruptions in the tertiary university system of the country.

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