The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the non-teaching staff unions in the universities, University of Ilorin chapter, has joined the nationwide strike called by their national body.
It would be recalled that most federal universities across the country have shut down, in compliance with the directive of JAC.
The JAC is made up of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU).
Speaking with journalists on Tuesday in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, the Chairman of NASU at the University of Ilorin, Mr. Suberu Ibrahim, said the strike would be total and indefinite, adding that the
action was due to the non-payment of the members’ withheld four months salaries as well as the improved remuneration, earned allowances, and implementation of the 2009 agreements with the government.
He said: “You will recall that in the last few months, we have been agitating for the payment of our withheld salaries, and when we went to Abuja National protest, President Ahmed Tinubu, in his magnanimity directed that the money should be paid to us.
“Unfortunately, the Minister for Finance refused to pay us.”
Also speaking, Mr Falowo Naheem, the Chairman of SSANU, rued the treatment of the non-teaching staff by the Federal Government, accusing the FG of non-fulfilment
of the 2022 agreement it entered with JAC.
He said: “The “unions were embarking on strike as the last resort because members had been pushed to the wall.
“The situation in Nigeria does not warrant any responsive government to hold people’s salary. This is a country where one cannot afford transportation, food, hospital bills.”