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SSANU threatens strike over FG’s privatisation plan

By BusinessNews Staff on June 28, 2015

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities has threatened to withdraw its services from Nigerian universities should the Federal Government go ahead with its plan to stop paying the salaries of teachers of University Demonstration Primary Schools.

The National Vice Chairman, Eastern Region of SSANU, Dr. Leku Ador, issued this threat on Friday, when he led scores of members of the union on a protest march at the University of Port Harcourt in Choba, Rivers State.

Ador said the union would resist the move by the Federal Government to stop funding University Demonstration Primary Schools.

He appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the matter by directing the Federal Ministry of Education to withdraw the circular.

Ador also said that failure on the part of the President to intervene in the matter would force the union’s National Executive Committee to convene a meeting that might lead to the withdrawal of their services from universities.

He said, “The industrial action, which will be unprecedented, will not only affect students and the education sector, but will question President Buhari’s promise of creating employment for Nigerians.”

Ador expressed dissatisfaction with a circular by the Federal Ministry of Education directing vice chancellors of federal universities to stop accommodating UDPS teachers in universities’ emolument structure.

He said, “Recently, we received a circular from the Federal Ministry of Education with intent to disengage from funding of UDPS in the country.

“National Salaries and Wages Commission together with the Nigerian Universities Commission and the Ministry of Education were part of our negotiation in SSANU-Federal Government 2009 agreement.

“This agreement contained, among others that government will continue to fund UDPS-Staff schools in our various federal universities.”

Meanwhile, the NUC on Friday in Abuja defended allegations by the SSANU that it was behind plans to remove salaries of university staff primary schools from the payroll of universities.

The Director of Information and Public Relations in NUC, Ibrahim Yakassai, at a news briefing, accused SSANU of deliberately distorting the facts and misleading the public on the true position of the university staff primary schools.

He said SSANU was privy to a circular dated August 28, 2014 with reference No. SWC/S/04/S446/T2/85, which was also addressed to both the executive, legislative and judicial arms of government entitled: ‘Funding of staff schools established by the Federal Government institutions.’

According to him, part of the decision to remove university staff primary school from the payroll of public universities as contained in the circular was to minimise the recurrent expenditure of the Federal Government.

[Punch]

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