SSANU vows to proceed on 7-day strike

By Barth Ndubuwah, Port Harcourt

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) Chapter has vowed to proceed on a 7-day warning strike with effect from Monday 18/3/2024, bearing dying minutes changes.

Speaking to NewsDirect exclusively at Choba, the University campus, the Chairman of SSANU, Comrade Bernard Ezechuku said unless the Federal Governnment does the needful before 12 midnight on Sunday, 17/3/2024 by paying their withheld four months salaries, otherwise his members will shut down all activities on campus from Monday 18/3/2024.

“There is no going back to the 7-day warning strike by non-academic staff unions of all Nigerian universities, starting from Monday 18th March, 2024.”

“I have directed my members to comply fully with the directive from our National Executive Council (NEC)on the strike.”

“Unless something happens between now and Sunday,otherwise it is going to be total shut down. No water,no light and all the offices shall be closed down,” the SSANU Chairman said.

According to him, “nobody likes strike,it could be avoided, if the Federal Governnment act promptly.”

On his part,the Non-academic Staff Union (NASU) Chairman,UNIPORT Chapter,Comrd Nsoruchi Ogbegbe said his members have been put on alert, pending final directive from their National Secretariat.
“It is up to the Federal Governnment to do the needful to avert the looming strike,” Ogbegbe said.

It would be recalled that the Federal Governnment under former President Muhammadu Buhari evoked a ‘no work,no pay policy’ on the university unions, following a 9-month industrial action embarked upon by the academic and non-academic staff unions in Nigeria universities in 2022,to press home their grievances bothering on non-implementation of agreement by the then Federal Governnment.

The current President, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, however, decided to pay part of the withheld salaries,hence the strike.