- Mohammed Ibrahim, SSANU President, warns of a nationwide university shutdown if government fails to meet demands within seven days
- Non-academic staff, vital for university functions, demand government response to grievances or threaten total strike action
Mohammed Ibrahim, President of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), has issued a stern warning, declaring that alongside the Non-academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions (NASU), they will shut down universities nationwide if the government fails to meet their demands within the next seven days.
In an interview on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics, Ibrahim revealed that a 7-day ultimatum, commencing from today (Monday), has been given to the Federal Government. He emphasized that if the government remains unresponsive by the end of the request, the two unions will initiate a total strike.
He said there would be a total shutdown of the universities if members of the non-academic staff went on strike, saying: “We are in charge of security, we are in charge of administration, we are in charge of medicals, we are in charge of hostels, we are in charge of electricity, we are in charge of everything apart from teaching. So, once our members down tools, no university can function in Nigeria.”
“It’s quite unfortunate. No union member wants to go on strike, but what would you do when you are pushed to the wall? You have to push back.
“You can see what is happening in the country. The economy is in dundrums and everybody is suffering. Most of our universities are located far outside the township and our members must commute daily. Fuel cannot be accessed, food is scarce, our medicals can not be attended to, and members are suffering quite clearly,” he added.
Speaking about the union’s grievances, the SSANU President said, “It’s quite absurd that we have to speak like this and it is because we have been clearly shown that we do not matter in the system while we all know that there is no university that can function without the non-teaching staff.
“Professionals populate us, we oil the engine in the administration of every university and therefore treating a segment of staff with disdain does not speak well of the system.
“In 2022, all the university-based unions were on strike – four of us. For us in NASU and SSANU, we went on strike on the 27th of March and we called it off on the 27th of August after the intervention of the then Minister of Education, Mal Adamu Adamu.
“We signed an agreement with the government to review the situation and ensure that justice is done,” he recalled.
Despite the looming threat of a shutdown, Ibrahim asserted that industrial action could be averted if the government addresses the union’s concerns within seven days.
Discussion about this post