The administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari had invoked the “No work, no pay,” policy, which meant that the university workers would not be paid salaries within the period they were on strike in 2022.
But President Bola Tinubu had in October 2023, directed that the university workers who embarked on a prolonged strike over the inability of the then government to address their concerns, be paid four months of their withheld salaries.
Speaking during a peaceful protest within the university premises on Wednesday, the North Central Zonal Coordinator and Chairman of NAAT in FuLafia, Kenneth Onuh, said they decided to embark on the three-day warning strike which would end on Friday to express their displeasure over the Federal Government’s neglect of the plights of their members.
He explained that members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities had long received their four months salary arrears as directed by the President, but members of NAAT were yet to be paid despite their several appeals to the Federal Government.
“The action of the Federal government of paying members of only one union four months of withheld salaries and excluding members of NAAT and two other unions is an act of injustice and a move to shortchange NAAT and its members. Hence, the union rejects this action in its totality.
“The failure by the heads of all relevant government agencies concerned on this matter to respond nor acknowledge the union’s correspondences is a sign of bad faith on the part of the government towards addressing this injustice meted on members of our union.
“The strike action the union embarked upon for which the salaries of its members were withheld is legitimate as it is because of the failure of the Federal Government to fully implement the FGN/NAAT 2009 Agreement freely signed by both parties”, he added.
The NAAT North Central Zonal Chairman further called on the general public, well-meaning Nigerians, Civil society Organisations and all stakeholders to prevail on the Federal Government to pay members of the association the withheld salaries, or hold the government responsible for any disruption of academic activities in the institution.
Our correspondent reports that during the peaceful protest, members of the association sang solidarity songs while displaying placards with several inscriptions such as “Pay us our withheld salaries now”; “We are not slaves”, “we are not second class citizens”; “We are suffering,” “pay us our withheld salaries now”; among others.
