An uproar has been stirred, following a recent decision by the federal government to fire 2000 university workers across the country. The workers are allegedly to be sacked by January, 2016.
In reaction to the sack, the Senior Staff Association of the Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has called for an indefinite strike on December 24, 2015 to protest the decision by the Buhari-led administration.
The national president of SSANU, Mr Samson Ugwoke, said during a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, December 18, that the national salaries, income and wages commission, and the National Universities Commission had written letters of termination to 2,000 members of staff of the universities.
Ugwoke said that the senior staff union of the universities had already dispatched letters to the ministry of education, the NUC and the national salaries, incomes and wages commission to withdraw the letters of termination issued to varsity workers.
The staff affected include workers of the University of Ilorin, Federal University of Technology Akure, Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto and others.
He said that SSANU also urged the Education Ministry and the other agencies to ensure immediate withdrawal of similar letters to vice chancellors to terminate the appointment of personnel of university staff primary schools.
“The implementation of this directive would be a gross violation and breach of the SSANU/FGN 2009 agreement, which explicitly stated that the University shall bear full capital and recurrent cost of University Staff primary schools.
“It is further shocking to note that till date, the Federal Ministry of Defence still funds the capital and recurrent costs of over 100 Army Children Schools, Command Children Schools, Navy Primary Schools and Air Force Schools; while the Ministry of Police Affairs still funds its Police Children Schools, all from the Federal Treasury.
“We are surprised that an agency of government, the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, could continue with this callous, wicked, insensitive and ill-intentioned agenda, despite our calls, letters, press releases and publications on the issue.
“With the advent of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, we had written series of public and confidential letters on same with no positive response.”Ugwoke stressed.
According to him, 90% of the pupils of the university staff schools are children of the staff of the institutions.
He noted that the schools were established alongside other academic components of the universities in some cases.
The unionist said SSANU had to give the Thursday, December 24, deadline to the federal government, as part of the efforts to prevent the over 2000 workers of the universities from being sacked.
He said the letter dated December 17, 2015 also copied President Muhammadu Buhari; the Senate president, Bukola Saraki, the Speaker of the House of representatives, Yakubu Dogara, the minister of labour and empowermengt, Chris Ngige and others.
Punch reports that all attempts to get the government to speak on the issue has met brick walls, as an official statement regarding the massive sack case is still looked forward to.
Meanwhile, President Buhari has vowed to present to Nigerians, a budget of change, when the presentation of the 2016 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly is being carried out on Tuesday, December 22.
In an interview with newsmen, the president disclosed that the 2016 budget would be different from the previous budgets, where the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) was presented to the National Assembly while the budget was being considered.
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