SSANU/NASU, blames FG for failure to implement agreement
From Francis Nansak,Lafia
Senior Staff Association of Nigeria University and the None Academic Staff Union, Nasarawa state University Keffi, have said the gradual failure in the educational system recorded in universities should be blamed on the Federal Government for non implementations of certain demands since 2009,which has prompted their three days Peaceful protest in the country.
The Two Unions of the Nasarawa state university on Tuesday, joined their other colleagues across campuses in the country by declare a peaceful protest which they said will last untill Thursday,to send warning signals to the federal government.
They said that should government refuse to heed at their cry, ,they will have no options but to embark on indefinite strike action.
The chairman Joint Action Committee,Comrade Zubairu Adamu,while addressing newsmen in Keffi, said that since 2009 the government and the officials of JAC had reached an agreement on the implementation of their demands agitated for by the two unions ,but government has delibrately failed to implement any.
According to him,while some persons may see the protest as a setback on education from the unions,he urged all well meaning Nigerians to blame the government for lacking the will to bring the problem to an end.
” We have met severally with the government even to the point of undertaking a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and you ought to know that reaching point is not just one party,but between all concerned coming together to agree on terms which we did.
” The issues were outlined and tabled out between the two parties,but to our greatest dismay government on her part failed to consider even one aspect of that agreement, “Zubairu pointed.
According to him,they are expecting the payment of their Earned Allowances which was started but stopped in 2001, this , he said is at the tune of about #40billiin.
He appealed to the federal government to always treat their employees with respect and honesty,as well as to prioritize issues that are not beyond their ability in order to avoid conflict and agitations.
Also speaking ,the Branch chairman ,None Academic Staff Union (NASU) Nasarawa state university, Comrade,Yunana Usman,said there are series of challenges faced by the union in the state university,Keffi,which he pointed out that first among others was payment of salaries.
He said” The state government had promised to take over the payment of our salaries,yet has became a near impossibility for the government keeping to the promise.
“As I talk with you ,we are yet to receive our December 2020 salary,we held a meeting with the management over the matter and they travelled down to Lafia two days ago,but what we got was that government said they are not going to pay us,for two reasons.
“One,that the academic staff have been on strike and they still pay them salary,so for that reason they are not going to pay us,while acknowledging the fact that we have been coming to work,but they however said that because we (NASU) have refused to comply by filling the Biometric forms(IPPIS) ” Yunana added.
Contributing, the Deputy National President NASU and the Chairman Universities and inter-university center in Nigeria , Comrade Suleiman Buhari Keffi,in solidarity with the unions on the peaceful protest ,said they held a meeting at the National JAC last Friday at Abuja ,purposely and reviewed the Memorandum of Understanding,which was signed by both the federal government and JAC of NASU and SSANU,but discovered that all the contents therein in the Memorandum was not adhered to by the government.
” So we called on all the branches through a circular to mobilise their members for 3 days Peaceful protest across the various universities campuses in the country” Comrade Suleiman stated.
