By Michael Oche
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has announced the suspension of its ongoing strike effective from Wednesday, 24 August 2022 for initial two months.
The Unions said the decision to suspend the strike followed the conclusion of negotiation between JAC and the federal government team led by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu.
In a statement on Saturday by comrade Peters Adeyemi, General Secretary of NASU and Spokesman of JAC, the unions explained that the Federal Government has committed N50 billion to pay earned allowances for their members.
He said the two months window is to allow government to implement the agreements reached.
The statement reads in part, “Part of the agreement is the decision of the government to set aside the sum of N50 billion for the payment of earned academic and earned allowances, cogent decision on the University Peculiar Personnel Payroll System (U3PS), release of the white paper on university visitation panel and funding of the universities.
“On the poor funding of federal institutions, the Minister said he directed the National Universities Commission (NUC) to ensure that all the schools are up-to-date on what they are supposed to do. Otherwise sanctions will be visited on any institution that defaults.
“The Minister of Education also gave an assurance that no member of the unions that participated in the strike will be victimised.
“The Minister said President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to devout 15 percent of the national budget to education.”
According to the statement, on the salary payment system, the Minister said the alternative payment systems provided by ASUU JAC of NASU and SSANU did very well, adding that the Minister noted that the Federal Government is awaiting the report of the technical committee it set up before taking action on the matter.
The spokesman of JAC, Peters Adeyemi said after a very prolonged negotiations and dialogue between the two unions and the Federal Government led by the Minister of Education and after the meeting, the two unions decided to suspend the strike for the initial period of two months.
