The SSANU President, Mr Ibrahim said: I hate to say and with a very heavy heart, if it means shutting down the system again, once our organs sanctions it, we will do it. This time around, it will be like never before."
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has threatened to embark on an indefinite strike should the government fail to meet its demands.
This is as the union alongside the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) ended a one week warning strike on Sunday.
Both SSANU and NASU through their Joint Action Committee (JAC) had embarked on a seven-day warning strike to protest what they described as a selective payment of withheld salaries to their academic counterparts.
A statement jointly signed by the SSANU President, Mohammed Ibrahim, and NASU Secretary General, Peters Adeyemi, commended members for the "massive and comprehensive strike".
"After evaluating the 7-day warning strike that commenced on Monday, 18th March, the JAC confirmed that the tempo of the warning strike has been massive, comprehensive and total in most of our universities and inter-university centres. It therefore salutes the dedication, resoluteness and loyalty of members to the cause of the union's struggle for the payment of 4 months' withheld salaries. We are proud of your concerted efforts," the statement reads in part.
Possible showdown
Meanwhile, Mr Ibrahim has said the union will meet with its members to decide on the next line of action, which he said could result in a total shutdown of the universities.
Speaking on Sunday during a conversation organised by the Education Writers' Association of Nigeria (EWAN), the SSANU president said the unions are yet to get any positive responses from the government regarding their demands.
"We will go back to our members, we will meet, we will discuss, I assure you, we will get back as soon as possible. We will not leave this matter," he said.
"I hate to say and with a very heavy heart, if it means shutting down the system again, once our organs sanctions it, we will do it. This time around, it will be like never before."
Meeting with ministers
Both Mr Ibrahim and the President of NAAT, Ibeji Nwokema, during the stakeholders' forum of Sunday, said though they met with the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, a professor, and the Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, among other government officials, there were no resolutions reached.
According to them, the minister simply pleaded with the union to suspend the strike, promising them a swift response to their demands.
"If we took to the bank what they gave us --a collateral that something would've happened that day or the following day, and we suspended the strike, we would've been stoned today by our members," the SSANU president said.
Mr Ibrahim said his union insisted during the meeting that the minister must give a specific timeline for the demands to be met if they must suspend the strike.
"Nothing has been achieved at that meeting except the optimism that something will be done. But as far as we are concerned, we have not seen the money, payments have not been made," he added.
"Our strike is ending tonight and we will meet at the different organs to strategise and then come back to tell the world the next line of action."
How NAAT strike went
Speaking on its union's three-day warning strike, the NAAT President, Mr Nwokema, said his union members had opted for a peace protest and a three-day warning strike, hoping that the government would have "done the needful."
Mr Nwokema, a staffer of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), said his union is disappointed by the selective decision of the government in the release of the part-payment of the withheld salaries.
He said his members' high hope in the President Bola Tinubu's pledge to pay four months of the withheld salaries was dashed by the decision to neglect them by the government.
"We had a stakeholder's meeting. The minister of education was present, the acting executive secretary of NUC was present, all the Vice Chancellors of Universities and Inter Universities centres were present and all the unions were present and I quote the minister of education. He said clearly in that meeting that the payment will cut across the board. That the payment was meant for everybody," Mr Nwokema said during the EWAN virtual conversation on Sunday.
Mr Nwokema alleged that there are saboteurs in the administration of Mr Tinubu, saying the selective payment must have been deliberate to cause disharmony and destabilise the university system.
House of Reps wades in
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Committee on University Education has called for a stakeholders meeting with the aggrieved unions, the ministry of education and the National Universities Commission (NUC).
The committee said it is worried by the negative consequences of the strike, according to a copy of an invitation letter seen by this newspaper.
"In view of this unhealthy development and in order to amicably resolve this matter, the committee hereby, invites you and your members to an urgent meeting along with the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission," the letter which is signed by the Chairman of the committee, Hassan Fulata, and dated 21 March, reads in part.
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Background
The Nigerian government had withheld the salaries of both academic and non academic staff in Nigerian universities for taking part in an industrial action that lasted eight months in 2022.
But the new administration of President Bola Tinubu ordered the payment of parts of the salaries for the academic staff, leaving out the non-teaching staff.
This development resulted in a renewed rift between the non academic staff union and the government. The unions include SSANU, NASU and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).
Shortly after the president's directive, NAAT President, Ibeji Nwokema, said the education minister assured the unions that the payment will be for all and not just for the academic staff.
However, only the academic staff received the four months' salaries last month when the government made the payment.
JAC said it wrote the education minister, Mr Mamman, and Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, but never received a response, prompting it to decide on a one week warning strike.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the strike disrupted activities across Nigerian universities last week.
