From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Non-teaching staff of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), under the aegis of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU), staged a protest on Tuesday over the non-payment of four months’ withheld salaries by the Federal Government.
The protest, which began at the SSANU Secretariat within the university, saw members of both unions chanting anti-government songs, highlighting the difficulties they face due to the non-payment of salary arrears.
Armed with placards bearing inscriptions such as “We are workers, not slaves,” “Monkey dey work and Baboon dey chop,” “Let the Federal University workers breathe,” “Divide and rule is not allowed,” “Pay our four months’ salary,” and “FG, don’t suffocate us,” the protesters marched to the Senate Building. There, they presented their grievances to the Vice-Chancellor of FUNAAB, Professor Olusola Kehinde.
Read also: SSANU, NASU protest four months withheld salaries, threaten strike
Addressing the protesters, the Chairman of SSANU, FUNAAB Chapter, Rotimi Fasunwon, said the protest aimed to draw the attention of the Federal Government and the public to the plight of non-academic staff in Nigerian universities.
He explained that the Federal Government had failed to pay the four months’ withheld salaries, resulting from the “no-work-no-pay” policy during the nationwide university strike in 2022, despite promises to do so.
Fasunwon accused the Federal Government of employing divide-and-rule tactics by paying the same withheld salaries to academic staff in February 2024.
He further criticised the Federal Government’s failure to implement the payment of earned allowances and a 23.5% salary increment for non-academic staff, as agreed upon in the 2009 Memorandum of Action. He noted that despite N50 billion being allocated for this purpose in the 2023 budget, the Federal Government had not implemented the payment.
The SSANU chairman emphasised that the joint protest, directed by the national headquarters of SSANU and NASU, aimed to demand the payment of withheld salaries, earned allowances, and the salary increment for SSANU and NASU members.
He added that a mega-rally, culminating at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, would be held in Abuja by the joint action committee of both unions on 18 July 2024.
In his address, the Chairman of NASU, FUNAAB Chapter, Samson Ediviri, described the Federal Government’s decision to pay four months’ salary arrears to academic staff while leaving non-academic staff in limbo as “unjust and biased.”
“We are using this protest to call on the Nigeria University Commission (NUC), the Minister of Education, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure that all our agreements are honoured and our four months’ salary arrears are paid,” Ediviri said.
“Non-academic workers are key to the running of universities, and we don’t deserve this treatment. We recently lost a member at FUNAAB, and many of us are just managing to survive.”
He added: “The struggle is for the benefit of all workers in the university, and this protest, directed by the national bodies of SSANU and NASU, is to demand the payment of our four months’ withheld salaries, earned allowances, and a 23.5% salary increment for non-academic staff of universities.”
Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kehinde, commended the union leadership for organising a peaceful protest.
He stated that the university aligned with the legitimate struggle of the non-academic workers and assured them that their entitlements would never be delayed by the university management, adding, “your welfare will continue to be paramount to us.”