SSANU, NASU accuses FG of discrimination, demand N30 billion earned allowance

Non-teaching staff of the Nigerian Universities have accused the Federal government of discriminating against them and giving preferential treatment to the Academic staff, warning that unless the government meets their demands, the warning strike which ends on Friday may snowballed into what they called mother of all strike.

They are insisting that the government release the sum of N30 billion to them for payment of their earned allowances, saying giving 80 percent of the money earlier released to the universities to the Academic staff was rather too discriminatory.

The threat of the unions is however coming just as the National Universities Commission issued a circular to Vice Chancellors of all federal Universities on the payment of salaries and arrears of the teachers of University Staff Schools which has been a subject of industrial crisis between the government the unions since 2016.

Addressing news conference on Thursday the Joint Action Committee of led by the National Vice President/zonal chairman of Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU), Comrade Solomon Alfa said that the 5-day warning strike embarked upon last Monday to press home their demands has been very successful.

The two unions which began a five-day warning strike last Monday said that the money is to be used to close the gap created by the discriminatory disbursement of the funds earlier approved for settlement of university workers’ Earned Allowances.

Alfa said the unions were not happy over the alleged discrimination by the government in disbursing N25 billion allocated to Federal Universities in the country, with the Academic staff alone taking 80 percent of the money.

They also want the government to immediately reopen renegotiation with them on the 2009 agreement which he said was long overdue for renegotiation.

According to him, the unions were protesting the continued discriminatory practice