Non Academic Workers Threaten to Stall Reopening of Universities

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The Non-Academic Staff of the Universities (NASU) has threatened to pull out of the proposed resumption of the tertiary institutions if the federal government would not correct the anomalies in salaries paid on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

The union is also demanding the payment of arrears on earned allowances and minimum wage.

NASU logo

The NASU further said that it has passed a vote of no confidence on the IPPIS and is currently considering the ‘University General and Peculiar Payment Platform (UG3P), which is in its final stages of completion.

In a resolution issued yesterday that was jointly signed by the President of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Mr. Samson C. Ugwoke, and General Secretary of the Non-Academic Staff Union, Mr. Peters Adeyemi, the workers stated that they were ready for showdown anytime the universities would be directed to reopen after the COVID-19 lockdown.

Part of the resolution reads: “Our dear colleagues and friends, members of the public, Industrial unrest looms in the university system. As responsible unions, we have avoided these crisis but the irresponsibility of government and its officials have led us to a point where it has become inevitable. If fight we must, then fight we will.

“We have again cried out to the general public with a view to inviting stakeholders and well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the government to correct the anomalies of the IPPIS, pay us the arrears of both earned allowances and minimum wage, among all the other issues highlighted above, failing which it will be a showdown in the university system effective from when universities would be directed to reopen for activities after the COVID-19 lockdown”.

The unions’ grievances include the failure of government to properly address the peculiarities associated with the governance and general administration of the university system.