By Ahmad Mubarak
Members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), Federal University Lokoja (FUL) have staged a one-day protest over the Federal Government’s failure to address long-standing welfare demands.
Addressing journalists during the protest in Lokoja, the SSANU Chairman, Comrade Kadiri Ismail Ndakata, said the action was to express the union’s disappointment with the government’s failure to implement agreements reached with them since 2009.
According to him, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of both unions had directed all chapters nationwide to organize peaceful demonstrations, including campus marches, placard displays, and press briefings, to draw attention to their grievances.
Ndakata listed some of the outstanding issues to include the non-payment of two months’ withheld salaries, arrears of 35% and 25% salary increases for one year, unpaid wage awards, and promotion arrears dating from 2018 to 2024.
He asserted that if the government continued to ignore their demands, the unions would be left with no option but to shut down the university completely.
Also speaking, the NASU Chairman, Comrade Abdulazeez Yusuf, condemned the Federal Government’s insensitivity to the plight of non-teaching staff, noting that the neglect had taken a severe toll on members.
He lamented that many workers had lost their lives due to hardship resulting from the government’s prolonged inaction, urging authorities to act swiftly to avert a total industrial shutdown in universities.
Edited by Ajifa Ainoko
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