University Staff begin nationwide protest Tuesday

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) announced it will be meeting with the Federal Government on July 25, 2024, to address its unresolved demands.

Meanwhile, non-academic university staff declared on Sunday that they plan to hold a one-day protest on Tuesday regarding their withheld four-month salaries. This protest is a precursor to a nationwide demonstration scheduled for July 18.

ASUU’s National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, shared this information during a phone interview with our correspondent on Sunday. He stated that July 25 is the agreed-upon implementation date for the timeline established with the Federal Government.

For several weeks, ASUU chapters across various campuses have been staging protests. The academics, joined by students, have threatened another round of industrial action if the government does not fulfill its promises.

ASUU also published an open letter to President Bola Tinubu, demanding the full implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Federal Government in 2009.

Osodeke highlighted that the protests had a positive impact, leading to the Federal Government scheduling a meeting and setting a timeline to address some of the promises.

“We have met with the Minister of Education and reached a timeline. They made promises to us, and we want to watch if they will be fulfilled. We are meeting two weeks from today, July 25th, to see if they have done what they promised. The protest led them to call us for a meeting, and they should fulfill their promise,” Osodeke stated.

The letter published in a newspaper on June 20, 2024, noted that Nigerian academics were forced to go on a nationwide strike on February 14, 2022, after their appeals to the government went unanswered.

Osodeke outlined ten issues, including the conclusion of the renegotiation of the FGN/ASUU Agreement based on the Nimi Briggs Committee’s draft Agreement of 2021. Other concerns included the release of withheld salaries due to the 2022 strike, unpaid salaries of staff on sabbatical leave, third-party deductions, funding for public university revitalization, earned academic allowances, and more.

Osodeke urged President Tinubu to bring together ASUU and key stakeholders to address these issues and avoid another industrial action, emphasizing the President’s promise of smooth academic calendars in universities.

In a related development, non-academic university staff unions announced on Sunday their plans for a nationwide protest starting July 18, 2024, over withheld salaries. Before this, all branches of the non-academic unions under the Joint Action Committee will protest at their respective branches on Tuesday.

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions revealed that their meetings with government officials had collapsed. This was disclosed in a circular signed by NASU General Secretary Peters Adeyemi and SSANU President Mohammed Ibrahim, obtained by The PUNCH on Sunday.

The circular directed all branches to hold a general meeting today (July 8, 2024) to inform members about the government’s insensitivity to their plight.

The unions said their actions were due to the Federal Government’s failure to pay their members’ withheld salaries despite several meetings with the Minister of Education and the Minister of Labour.

“The national body of the Joint Action Committee of NASU and SSANU met on Thursday, 4th July 2024, to appraise and take a position on the current situation regarding the withheld four months’ salaries and other grievances of our members in the University and Inter-University Centres. Unfortunately, after the engagement, the Minister of Education has not shown any convincing commitment to the payment of our withheld salaries and resolution of other pending grievances,” the circular stated.

It also mentioned that meetings at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment did not yield any commitments, leading JAC to decide on a series of industrial actions.

“All branches of NASU and SSANU should mandatorily hold a general meeting on Monday, 8th July 2024, to sensitize members to the government’s insensitivity to our plight. A one-day protest should hold on Tuesday, 9th July 2024, at each branch simultaneously. Every branch should ensure full participation of all members and adequate media coverage. A national protest will hold in Abuja on Thursday, 18th July 2024, after which JAC will announce the date for the commencement of a strike action. Further information will be communicated appropriately,” the circular read.

The Nigerian government had withheld the salaries of both academic and non-academic university staff for participating in an eight-month industrial action in 2022. In October, President Bola Tinubu ordered the payment of four of the eight months’ withheld salaries for academic staff, excluding non-teaching staff. This development caused renewed tension between the non-academic staff unions and the government.

Since the announcement, both SSANU and NASU have protested the ‘selective payments’ and demanded inclusion. However, only the academic staff received the four months’ salaries paid in February.