SSANU warns FG over looming strike action if conditions not met 

THE Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), weekend, warned that except the Federal Government addresses its own issues, non-teaching staff would also proceed on strike as soon as schools are reopened.This was warning came against the backdrop of a renewed hope to an end to the prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).While addressing newsmen during a press conference at the SSANU secretariat, the University of Ibadan, the National Vice President of SSANU, Mr. Alfred Jimoh, stated that the hope of having a peaceful post-COVID-19 industrial atmosphere in universities would only be a mirage, except issues such as unpaid arrears of earned allowances, inadequacies of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS), double deduction of pension are addressed.The union described as saddening that the earned allowances of non-teaching staff that arose from the 2009 FG/SSANU agreement was still largely unattended to, despite repeated industrial actions on the issue.Pointing to various correspondences with the federal government, SSANU lamented the nonchalant attitude of the government to issues affecting non-teaching staff of Nigerian universities, while treating teaching staff as ‘demi-god’.According to him: “It is indeed very saddening that the Earned Allowances of our members which arose from the 2009 FGN/SSANU Agreement are still largely unattended to as government and its agents have often acted in respect of this issue in a way that suggests that for as long as the Earned Allowances of the Teaching staff are paid, even though if that of the Non-Teaching staff are not paid, there would be little or no problem.”“We like to state categorically that this is both erroneous and fallacious. SSANU is seriously mobilizing to engage the government over the unpaid arrears of the Earned Allowances of its members across the country as soon as schools are reopened.”Furthermore, the treatment being given to Pensioners under the New Pension Scheme is very unpleasant. SSANU calls on government to put the Employee/Employer deduction of Pension on the first charge of the Consolidated Account of the Federation, so as to save Nigerians who have served their country with the better parts of the youthful age from the trauma of epileptic pension payment,” he statedSource – Vanguard.