The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has alerted the federal government of an eminent industrial crisis in public universities arisng from the continued delay in the review of 2009 agreement it entered into with the university based non-teaching staff.
The Union urged government to put in motion machineries for the review of the agreement without further delay in order to forestall any industrial action that could destroy the smooth academic calendar in the nation’s academic environment.
In a communique issued at the end of its 24th regular Executive Council Meeting held at Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Enugu State at the weekend, the Union said the agreement was long due for review with effect from August, 2012.
The communique’ signed by SSANU National President, Samson Ugwoke, and the National Public Relations Officer, Nad Aboribo, respectively, frowned at the attitude of federal government in signing tripartite agreement with unions without any commitment to implement it.
"Going by the terms of the 2009 FGN/SSANU agreement, which fell due for review with effect from August, 2012, Council frowns at the culture of the government signing agreement with unions, with little or no commitment to full implementation of the terms of the agreement which is one of the causes of frequent industrial crises in the country, particularly in the Nigerian public university system.
"SSANU NEC therefore, calls on the federal government to as a matter of urgency put machineries in motion for the review of the agreement without further delay before it degenerates into another round of crisis,” the communiqué stated.
The union specifically condemned the non-implementation of the!earned allowance component of the 2009 agreement to its members on monthly basis and called for its regular payment "to avoid situations that may aggravate another industrial crisis in the universities."
It equally called on government to expedite action on the payment of the arrears to their members in research institutes affiliated to universities, regretting that these category of workers are yet to be paid any arrears of the earned allowances.
It appealed to the government to release the balance of funds to enable university governing councils settle the outstanding arrears.
The union also viewed with great concern the government policy on the implementation of Integrated Personal Payroll Information System (IPPIS) in all Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, and government insistence in implementing it in universities.
It accused government of adopting an obsolete policy of over centralisation at a time where decentralisation is being embraced globally, insisting that "SSANU will not subscribe to the implementation of the IPPIS in the Universities including the Research Institutes affiliated to the Universities," until acceptable software is developed to take care of the peculiarities.
SSANU also called on government to fully implement the Group Life Insurance to members as part of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
The union equally warned against autocratic use of power by Vice Chancellors without recourse to due process and conditions of service, stating that the arbiltrary suspension of members, victimisation of union officials and unjust re-deployment of career directors in some universities will no longer be tolerated.
It also called for immediate resolution of the lingering crisis in the Polytechnic and Colleges of Education by the government, demanding an apology from the security agents for the brutal action meted out to the members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and the Colleges of Education
Academic Staff Union (COEASU) during their rally.
On the state of the nation, the union condemned the destruction of lives and properties by the dreaded Boko Haram group and called on security agencies to be at the forefront of all such activities in order not to undermine the security and sovereignty of the country