Members of Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) in the nation’s universities have begun a three-day nationwide protest.
The protests follow an earlier statement by the NASU General Secretary, Peters Adeyemi, and the SSANU President, Mohammed Ibrahim calling on all members in branches of Universities and Inter-University centres across the nation to embark on industrial action.
The protesters in Abuja occupied the main gate of UNIABUJA Main Campus.
The issues in contention to include: Inconsistencies in the IPPIS payment; non-payment of Earned Allowances (EA) using unfavourable 75 percent and 25 percent sharing formula; non-payment of arrears of minimum wage; delay in the renegotiation of FGN/NASU and SSANU 2009 Agreements; non-payment of retirement benefits of out-gone members.
Others are teaching staff usurping headships of non-teaching units in clear violation of conditions of service and establishment procedures; neglect and poor funding of state universities; and non-constitution of visitation panels for universities.
They specifically stated that the usurping of headships of non-teaching staff duties by lecturers was breeding corruption in the universities; urging the lecturers to face their duties of research, learning and teaching they were meant to do.
Members of the union are also protesting in the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State; Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi, Benue State capital; and Federal University, Lokoja.
Others included University Of Ilorin, Kwara State capital, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi; and the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lagos State.
