NASU Threaten To Resume Strike Over Withheld Salaries

The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational (NASU) and Other Associated Institutions has vowed to resume its suspended strike due to the Federal Government’s failure to pay their withholding salary.

Prince Peters Adeyemi, the General Secretary of NASU, made this remark on the margins of the union’s current National Executive Council meeting in Abuja.

Adeyemi informed reporters that President Tinubu’s demand two months ago for their salaries to be paid had been ignored.

In October 2023, the President directed that NASU and Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities members be paid two of the four months’ salary withheld by the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022 due to a prolonged strike over unresolved disputes. Adeyemi stated that despite the directive, they have yet to get their money.

“What is new is that the President’s directive has been disobeyed. We used to know that the president’s words can be equated to a command. So, when the President said to do this, his aides quickly dealt with it. But in this case, it seems as if the Minister of Finance has his priorities beyond what he ought to have done.

“The money has not been paid. Now it is obvious that we are going to resume our suspended strike. We have given the government enough notice. Very recently, we had to prevail on our members to say, look, we think we are making headway, if we start a strike now, it may not be good. But everything that we have done shows clearly that the Finance Ministry and the Minister are unwilling to pay the two months that they said Mr President approved.

“Our patience is already exhausted. We are going to resume the suspended strike. I know that when certain elements in a government treat the directive of the president with levity, it could mean that they are exploiting their closeness to the president, and the president will have to readjust.

“There is no reason for not paying this money. I think this is a big disrespect for the president and an attempt to provoke an industrial upheaval in an atmosphere that is cool and calm. It works against the president’s resolve to say I don’t want strikes in the universities. And everything is being done by this government, at least the Minister, to prevent strikes. The Ministry of Education has done its part, the president has done his part, the Finance Minister is the one sitting on our money,” he said.

According to him, their patience has run out.

“We are going to resume the suspended strike,” he said.

He declined to specify when they would resume their strike action.

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli