The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) have suspended their planned indefinite strike due to the ongoing nationwide protests against hunger and poor governance.
On July 18, the unions, represented by the Joint Action Committee (JAC), had staged a national protest and submitted letters to the Ministries of Education and Labour and Employment, demanding the payment of four months’ withheld salaries. The unions had threatened to strike if their demands were not met.
The protest coincided with a meeting between President Bola Tinubu and leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. During this meeting, the issue of the withheld salaries was raised, leading the President to direct that the salaries be paid.
However, when the one-week deadline for payment expired without action, and with the threat of nationwide protests by youths, the unions decided to suspend their planned strike. The JAC cited concerns that a strike could be overshadowed by the larger national protests and might not receive the necessary government and media attention.
In a circular addressed to all branch chairmen of NASU and SSANU, signed by NASU General Secretary Prince Peters Adeyemi and SSANU President Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, the unions explained their decision. The circular highlighted that while the President had directed that resources be found for the salary payments, no funds had been released.
JAC’s statement read:
“The ten (10) days grace given to the Federal Government has expired, but the strike action cannot be carried out because of the threat of the national protest that has attracted the attention of everybody in Government.
“It is the considered opinion of JAC that this may not be an auspicious time to embark on an indefinite strike since such action will be subsumed by the national protest if at all it happens and will not allow our issues to receive the desired attention from the Government and necessary media publicity.
“Conclusively, JAC has taken a position that whatever follow-up action regarding the indefinite strike anticipated will have to wait until the end of the national protest for us to direct appropriately.”
The unions will continue to monitor the situation and plan further actions as needed after the national protests conclude.
