Why we called off strike – SSANU

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities has disclosed why it decided to suspend its industrial action.

The association said it took the decision to call off the strike because it wanted to give the government a window of opportunity to fulfill its promises.

The National President of SSANU Muhammed Ibrahim, made this known on Saturday.

WITHIN NIGERIA had earlier reported that SSANU and its sister union, Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Education Institutions, announced a suspension of the ongoing strike.

The decision was taken at the end of a meeting with the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, at the minister’s office in Abuja.

It was gathered that the executive secretary of the National Universities Commission, Professor Abubakar Rasheed, was also in attendance.

“We suspended the strike for a period of two months. This is to give the government a window of opportunity to meet all the demands. After the two months we will meet again and have a review.” PUNCH quoted Ibrahim as saying.

The unions embarked on a strike in March 2022 shortly after the commencement of the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

The unions had called for the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement; payment of earned allowances; end to usurpation of non-academic career positions by Vice Chancellors; inclusion of university staff schools into the university community; non-payment of minimum wage arrears and deployment of the Universities Peculiar Personnel Payroll System for payment of salaries and allowances.