…we don’t want meeting, we only want payment, unions insist
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
The meeting convened by the Federal Government to persuade the striking non-teaching staff in the universities to suspend the ongoing strike over their exclusion in the payment of the four months withheld salaries approved by President Bola Tinubu, ended in deadlock.
But the unions, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU and the National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT, told the government that what they needed was payment of the withheld salaries and not meetings.
The three unions noted that the Federal Government has been making promises that their concerns were receiving attention from the high quarters when nothing concrete was being done to pay them the way their sister Union, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU members were paid.
The deadlocked meeting, which started about 1 pm at the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Education was presided over by the Minister, Prof. Tahir Mamman flanked by the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, the Permanent Secretary and the directors in the ministry.
On the side of the unions were the President of SSANU, Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, the General Secretary of NASU, Prince Peters Adeyemi and the President of NAAT, Comrade Ibeji Nwokoma among others.
Vanguard reliably gathered that the government team made spirited efforts to persuade the unions to suspend the ongoing strike that has paralyzed academic and administrative activities in both the public and state universities, saying that the concern they raised was receiving attention from the high quarters, but the unions were adamant in their demand for the payment of the withheld salaries.
The unions told the government that they would not hesitate to suspend the strike if they were paid the four months withheld salaries.
A highly placed source privy to the meeting told Vanguard last night that what the three unions wanted was the payment of the withheld salaries.
The source said, “The meeting with government ended in deadlock even though the government team doesn’t want us to describe it so. The ministers made efforts to persuade us to suspend the strike but we told them that we can only suspend it when the withheld salaries are paid.
We are making it abundantly clear that we don’t want meeting, we only want the payment of our withheld salaries. We are ready to suspend the strike any time the salaries are paid.
“Though the Minister pleaded with us to suspend the strike, saying that our demand is receiving attention from the high quarters, we told him we can’t suspend it until we are paid.
“We do know that the Minister has been promising us and giving assurances that our demand is receiving attention, but it’s over three weeks he has been promising us.”
Vanguard was also told that the meeting convened by the Minister of State for Labour, Rt. Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha did not hold as the leadership of SSANU and NASU waited at the Conference Hall of the Minister without seeing her.
It was reliably gathered that the meeting was scheduled for 1 pm, but the Minister was said to have gone to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, for another meeting when the leadership of the two unions arrived at the ministry.
After waiting without seeing the Minister, the unions stormed out of the ministry.
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