Things fell apart in the University of Lagos as chapter members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non -Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) went separate ways on Friday, February 5, 2021 the date for the commencement of the indefinite strike of unions over the manner the management of the institution tends to share the Earned Allowance among members of the two bodies.
The SSANU members, who held a Congress at the university’s main auditorium, accused the leadership of NASU of selling out, while they also accused the management, led by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, of trying to break the ranks of the non-teaching staff with the plan to pay N30,00 to every member of NASU, while it wants to pay SSANU members N15,000 each.
Mr Olusola Sowunmi, the Acting Chairman and other leaders of the union, including a former Chairman, Mr Adefolalu Oriwaye, urged the management to retrace its step.
Besides, the body condemned in strong term, the poor attitude of the Federal Government to issues concerning them. It was gathered that NASU members had approached their SSANU counterparts to hold a joint congress, but the SSANU leadership refused, accusing NASU leadership of selling out. The NASU members subsequently went somewhere to hold their meeting.
The two unions at the federal level formed the Joint Action Committee, JAC, to collectively demand some things from the government. Among their demands are the payment of the arrears of new minimum wage, stoppage of the payment of their salaries using the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, IPPIS, payment of dues of retired members, stoppage of the usurpation of their roles by academic staff among others. The unions went on a three-day protest late last month before their national leaders called them out of an indefinite strike on Thursday.
