It seem there is no end in sight in the face-off between federal government and university unions as the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions (NASU), University of Lagos (UNILAG) chapter have shut down electricity and water supply to the university, following the commencement of a two-week industrial action.
The strike action reportedly started in the midnight of Sunday, March 27, joining the Academic Staff Union (ASUU) to cripple both academic and administrative activities in the university.
The decision to commence the strike action, according the unions, followed the nonchalant attitude of government to their demands.
Addressing Union members at the front of UNILAG Senate building, Chairman of SSANU, Comrade Showunmi Olushola, popularly known as Eko 4 Show, decried failure of government to review salaries and implement promotion arrears as well as non-payment and in some cases haphazard payment of retirees’ benefits among others.
He also condemned the inconsistencies in the Integrated Payment Personnel System (IPPIS), saying the attendant problems remain unabated.
After the congress, the union members stormed the service area housing Akoka Electricity Transmission Station to shut down power and water supply to the university.
Comrade Olushola, who was in company of his NASU counterpart, Comrade Aderibigbe Ayooluwa, said with the shutdown, nothing will work on campus as all offices are expected to be under lock and key.
He directed members of both unions to stay at home through out the period of the strike, saying, “No service is essential at this time, stay off campus, no concession under any guise.”
The union leaders further directed all security guards and drivers to comply with the strike action and remain at home while the union moved from office to office, sending away their members who had resumed work.
They emphasised that if at the end of the two weeks, government does not respond, they will commence a total strike action.
Recall that ASUU had on February 14, commenced a four-week warning strike over failure of government to address their demands.
At the end of the four weeks, the strike was extended to another eight weeks. The National Association of Technologist had also last week commenced its own two-weeks warning strike.