Nigerian universities will Monday (today) shut down as the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non Academic Staff Union of Universities and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) have directed all their branches nationwide to embark on indefinite strike action.
President of SSANU who is also the Chairman of the Joint Action Committee of the three unions, Comrade Samson Chijioke, told LEADERSHIP yesterday that he expects all public universities across the country to be shut as the members down tools.
According to him, members are expected to meet in the morning for the JAC meeting before they disperse.
“I expect nothing than the closing down of schools,” he stated.
This was also highlighted in a letter to all the branch Chairmen of the non teaching staff unions in the universities, under the umbrella of Joint Action Committee (JAC), with the title, ‘Directives to immediately resume the suspended strike’, signed by Comrades Samson Chijioke Ugwoke, SSANU, Chris Ani, NASU and Sani Suleiman, NAAT.
It stated that the action was necessitated as a result of the inability of the Federal Government to clarify the criteria for the disbursement of the N23 billion released by the government to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) while only pittance was allocated to the three non teaching staff unions.
The letter to the branches read, “Please recall our last correspondence to you in which we informed you of the letter written to the Honourable Minister of Education rejecting the allocation made by the office of the Permanent Secretary and signed by the PS himself.
“In the said letter, the federal government was given seven days to explain the criteria for the said allocation and do the needful. The deadline has elapsed without any response from the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“In view of the above therefore, you are hereby directed to resume the suspended indefinite strike action as from 12 midnight, Sunday 3rd December, 2017. During this period, the strike shall be total and comprehensive.”