THE Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) has demanded that the Federal Government pay the salaries of its members withheld because of the prolonged 2023 industrial action.
NASU has accused the Federal Government of undue favouritism to a sister union, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), in the payment of the four months withheld salaries when all unions joined an indefinite strike during the immediate past administration of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari.
While President Tinubu has given a directive that the withheld salaries be paid, the Federal Government appears to be pitching the respective unions against themselves, when it declared that 70 percent of the withheld salaries be paid to ASUU while other unions such as NASU and SSANU shares 30 percent.
Reacting to the position of government on Monday, General Secretary of NASU, Comrade Peters Adeyemi, warned of consequences, threatening that they might be compelled to down tools within a week if the government failed to issue a directive instructing the Accountant-General of the Federation to pay their members the four months salaries as well.
While addressing a press conference in Abuja, Adeyemi said the strike was forced on NASU, yet it fully complied with official procedures before embarking on the industrial action.
He said, “This meeting was convened to discuss very serious issues affecting us, especially our members in the university and inter-university centres across the length and breadth of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“This meeting was convened so that industrial harmony and stability that had been witnessed since the advent of this new government under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu can be sustained.
“It is the same reason why, when our union and SSANU were informed about the government decision to go ahead and pay four months withheld salaries of the unions that went on strike, which was confirmed to us even by the Minister of Education during our meeting with him sometime late December.
“But it was shocking that just a few weeks ago, we were informed that the office of the Chief of Staff gave approval to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to go ahead and pay the four months salaries to one of the unions in the universities.
“We asked ourselves was there a contradiction in the pronouncement of government and its functionaries? Is it what is supposed to be? Is there an attempt to introduce favouritism and partiality? And we told ourselves that probably it will not be acceptable to us.”
“The strike was forced on us; we never went on any strike in this union without following due processes. We filled the form as required for embarking on strike and we also filled the necessary forms.”
Adeyemi stressed that NASU had four agreements it signed with the Buhari administration, under the leadership of the then Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige.
He said those agreements were not honoured, and we were forced by our members who began to lose confidence in us and they began to ask questions because any time with government they will sign one agreement or the other with us.
Adeyemi noted that owing to the prevailing social economic challenges, if there is any union and its members that deserve to be paid first, it should be members of NASU.
“Recall that before we suspended the strike, because the then president insisted that the then Minister of Labour and Employment should hands-off from the matter of education.
“The then president directed that the then Minister of Education who is our employer should be the one to handle the issues. We met with Mallam Adamu Adamu and we had an agreement which subsist up till this moment.
“We had an agreement with government and all of the issues were treated and at the end of that agreement there was a clause of no victimisation. No victimisation means nothing will be denied of our members. The idea of the same government coming to say ‘No Work No Pay’was injustice at the highest order,” the NASU scribe stated.
Adeyemi said the union appreciate the present government for making the pronouncement that these salaries be paid, but was somehow confused as to why up till this moment NASU members have not been paid their four months withheld salaries.
He said, “This meeting is to call on the government of President Bola Tinubu to direct without any further delay the payment of our four months withheld outstanding salaries.
“We are not unmindful of the problems that this government is confronted with but these unpaid salaries is part of the problem. So the president should do well to pay us so that this problem will be out of his problem.
“We are not going to continue to put pressure on our members to be reasonable and continue to sustain industrial harmony if this monies are not paid in the next one week or two weeks we are going to shut down the place.”
