IN THE ARENA Another Prolonged Strike Looming in Universities

As the strike embarked upon by the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and NonAcademic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions grounds activities in federal universities, Juliet Akoje writes that immediate intervention by the federal government is needed to resolve the issue and prevent further damage to the schools’ academic calendar

Since the commencement of the strike by the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) last Monday, activities in the federal universities across the country have come to a standstill, according to reports. The unions separately declared the strike to press home their demands, resulting in students scheduled to write Computer-Based Test (CBT) exams being left stranded. The two unions, after several notices, followed through with their threat by embarking on strike on March 18, 2024, shutting down hostels, power supply, security and administrative works in universities across the country.

Both SSANU and NASU are protesting unpaid salaries by the federal government. The two unions berated the federal government for paying withheld salaries to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) while neglecting the nonacademic unions.

All the unions had embarked on an eight-month strike in 2022 to press home some of their demands, which included a better welfare package.

The administration of then President Muhammadu Buhari subsequently invoked a ‘No Work, No Pay policy’ against the unions but President Bola Tinubu last October approved the release of four of the eight months withheld salaries.

However, the President of SSANU, Mohammed Ibrahim, accused the federal government of unfair treatment and discrimination against non-academic unions by failing to pay them like their academic counterparts.

He alleged that some “saboteurs in his government” might be responsible for the decision. He wondered why the president would give an instruction that members of varsity unions be paid 2022 arrears and some government officials won’t fully comply with the presidential directive. For him, what is good for the goose, is equally good for the gander.

When the unions issued a threat to embark on a strike if they were not paid, the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, feigned ignorance of their notice to strike. However, the minister has assured Nigerians that the matter was receiving attention “at the highest level of government.”

Like the usual government’s procrastination and failure to act, it was not until the unions had commenced their strike that the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, came out to appeal to the unions.

But first, she criticised the unions for embarking on the strike, claiming that the strike undermined the federal government’s dedicated efforts to resolve the unions’ grievances.

According to the minister, in a statement by the ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Olajide Oshundun, the unions did not formally notify her ministry of their strike plans, which she said contradicts the stipulations of Section 18 of the Trade Dispute Act.

She said upon learning of the impending strike, the ministry promptly initiated contact with the union leaders to organise an emergency meeting and forestall the strike.

She noted that despite the inability to convene a physical meeting, a productive teleconference was held.

She explained that following the dialogue, the ministry proposed a new date, Monday, March 18, for a comprehensive conciliation meeting, which anticipated that the unions would postpone the strike, pending the meeting’s outcome. But the unions declined this proposal, she said. The minister reiterated her stance that strikes are counterproductive and should be the last recourse, only after all avenues for conciliation have been thoroughly explored. She urged both SSANU and NASU to reconsider their position and engage in constructive dialogue with the federal government.

But the logical questions to ask the minister are: What exactly constitutes the “concerted effort” she mentioned? Why was this effort seemingly absent during the four weeks when the unions were vocal about their grievances? Why did the minister schedule a “comprehensive conciliation meeting” for the same day the strike was set to begin, rather than addressing the issues earlier?

While the two unions’ strike had commenced, the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) declared a three-day warning strike, beginning on Wednesday over nonpayment of the four months withheld salaries. In a statement issued by its president, Comrade Ibeji Nwokoma, NAAT explained that the decision to embark on the warning strike was made at the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) emergency virtual meeting.

“This is to enable the union to press home its demand for the payment of withheld salaries of members of NAAT as approved by the presidency,” he said.

The question now is: How fast can the government act and how permanent will the solution be?

Strike actions are often an issue of major concern to students in higher institutions. The current strike would have been averted if the Federal Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labour and Employment, National Universities Commission (NUC) and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) had acted expeditiously by ensuring that the directive of President Tinubu was complied with.

This is why many feel that the government may have felt that because the unions are not academic staff, their industrial actions would have zero impact on the university communities.

A cursory computation by a Nigerian online newspaper revealed recently that in the 19 years since Nigeria returned to civil rule under the Fourth Republic, universities have embarked on strike 16 times that saw them stay away from work for over 50 months.

Each time there is a strike in the universities, the students suffer because it prolongs their stay in school. It is in order to avoid these unnecessary strikes by any of the unions that parents do all in their powers to send their children and wards to private universities.

This is just not the time to be talking about a strike in Nigerian universities. Nigeria should not be presented with any strike at a time when there is so much hardship in the country and students are strongly eager to graduate.

The Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labour and the NUC should urgently intervene to resolve the issue.

Critical stakeholders in the education sector need to join hands in the efforts to find a lasting solution to what has become a perplexing national challenge.

In doing this, the federal government should take the initiative, so that the country can collectively come up with ways to reposition tertiary education. Unfortunately, disputes are always occasioned by broken promises and unfulfilled agreements by the federal government. The country cannot develop until efforts are made to revitalise key sectors like education and others.