The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has threatened to shut down universities across the country on Thursday, July 4, over the non-payment of four months' withheld salaries by the government.
SSANU, along with the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), had issued a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government to pay the four months' withheld salaries.
Of the four university-based unions that went on strike in 2022, the government has only paid the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), leaving behind SSANU and NASU.
SSANU expressed dismay over what it described as the "unprecedented level of government's insensitivity and deliberate resolve to cause chaos in the university system by adopting the divide and rule policy to set unions on a collision course through preferential treatment of one union over others."
The association stated that it was compelled by the government to embark on the 2022 strike over the refusal to honor a Collective Bargaining Agreement, and that the government had signed an agreement not to victimize the unions, but has selectively paid the withheld salaries.
The Joint Action Committee of SSANU and NASU is expected to meet on July 4 to review the government's response to the ultimatum and decide on a common position, which may involve withdrawing their services.
