By Tobi Adetunji.
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities has decried the growing rate of insecurity in tertiary institutions in the country, saying none of its members is safe.
The President of SSANU, Ibrahim Haruna, therefore, demanded firearms licence for campus security operatives across the country, noting that the security agencies were already overwhelmed by the various security challenges confronting the nation.
Haruna spoke at the SSANU National Executive Council(NEC) meeting in Abuja over the weekend, shortly after the students and staff of Greenfield University, Kaduna, regained their freedom after spending 40 days in kidnappers’ den.
He stated, “We are here to deliberate on a wide range of issues. Topmost among those issues are the security of our members who work in the university environment.
“Our members can’t travel freely, they can’t move around with ease; anytime they do so, they get kidnapped. This is unacceptable.”
“We are calling on the Federal Government to license our security men on campuses who are our members, train and re-train them from time to time and monitor them.
“ By doing this, security challenges in our institutions will reduce,” the SSANU President noted.
The union also cautioned the government not to paralyse academic activities in tertiary institutions with its lackadaisical attitude towards the implementation of the Memorandum of Action both parties signed.
He explained that only three out of eight of their demands had been addressed partially by the government, noting that the suspended strike may resume if the issue of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System(IPPS) and others that have continued to make SSANU members poorer were not quickly addressed.
Recall that SSANU had embarked on strike over alleged injustice in sharing formula of N40 billion Earned Allowance and non-payment of the minimum wage arrears, delay in renegotiation of FG/NASU and SSANU 2009 agreement, non-payment of retirement benefits of outgone members, among others.
Civil Service Pensioners faction seeks FG’s approval for registration
A faction of the Federal Civil Service Pensioners Branch (FCSPB) of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has appealed to the Federal Government to approve its registration as a full-fledged branch.
FCSPB National Chairman, Mr Omezi Sunday said this in an interview with our Correspondent on Monday in Abuja.
Sunday said that the branch had unanimously decided to pull out of the NUP due to gross violation of the constitution of the union, among others.
According to Sunday, we are pulling out for four main reasons; firstly, if you look at the NUP constitution, Rule six on organs of the union, we are not part of the organs of the union in line with its constitution.
“Secondly, NUP did not respect its constitution, which was amended without reporting to the Ministry of Labour and Employment and this is also against the Rule 57 of NUP constitution.
“Thirdly, NUP did not add us in its recent constitution review committee.
“Fourthly, the union also refused to obey the directives from the Ministry of Labour and Employment that said they should maintain status quo and should not dissolve our executives.
“So, with these four reasons we want to pull out and we are appealing to the Ministry of Labour and Employment to let us have a full-fledged registration because we cannot work with that type of union,’’ he said.
FCSPB National Secretary, Mr Christian Azunna also told our Correspondent that the major reason the branch pulled out of the NUP was due to high-handedness.
“Over the time we have made efforts to see that the matter is addressed.
“Unfortunately, the national secretariat of the NUP, which is rather manned by non-pensioners employees of the union, would not allow for dialogue.
“So, we have made efforts and written series of letters to the union without reply and most times the union waves it off with levity with the impression that we will not do anything,’’ he said.
Azunna, however, noted that the accrued one per cent check-off dues from the recent release of N70 million as payment of pension arrears to beneficiaries by the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) had yet to be paid to FCSP.
“But unfortunately we have several affiliates under the umbrella of NUP amongst all the affiliates’ members; it is only the FCSP that they control its funds 100 per cent.
“Others collect from the source of payment and remit 100 per cent in accordance with the constitution of the union Rule 19, Section 7 which deals with the allocation of funds.
“Our branch is supposed to get 55 per cent, NUP gets 35 per cent while 10 per cent goes to Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) as the overall body.
“But still, the NUP appropriates our own funds and gives us only a token,’’ he added.
NUP’s Head of Information, Mr Bunmi Ogunkolade while reacting to the allegation said the executives of the branch were found wanting for anti-union activities.
“The people you refer to as federal civil service branch of NUP were the former members of the executive committee of that branch.
“However during the last National Delegates Conference (NDE) of the union on April 22, the entire executives were dissolved for anti-union activities by the NDC in session,’’ he said.