Workers of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, protested on Tuesday over their four-month withheld salaries and threatened to embark on an indefinite strike if their entitlements are not released.
The affected workers, under the umbrella of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) and Joint Action Congress (JAC) of OAU branch, lamented their unpaid salaries by the Federal Government.
Speaking during the peaceful demonstration held on the campus, the Chairman of SSANU, Dr. Taiwo Arobadi, said despite promises by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, they have not received their salaries.
He said during a recent meeting between SSANU, JAC, and the Minister of Education, Mamman told their officers that he had sent the report to President Bola Tinubu in March and was waiting for the president’s approval.
“But presently, we are confused because we don’t know whether the Minister or President is deceiving us.
“The Minister of Labour and Employment, Hon. Nkiruka Onyejeocha, invited our national leaders to a meeting, but only the Permanent Secretary and officers of labour attended that meeting.
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“We embarked on strike in 2002 on this matter but we suspended that strike because of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Memorandum of Action (MoA) agreement between our leaders and the Federal Government then,” Arobadi explained.
The don added that it was clearly stated in that agreement that nobody is going to be victimised, positing that the failure of the Federal Government to pay their withheld four months’ salaries means victimisation.
He stressed that between now and July 18, the government should call its ministers to pay the money. Failure to do so, “we will embark on an indefinite strike.”
Arobadi appealed to well-meaning Nigerians, especially parents, to advise the federal government to do the needful. They maintain that many parents have their children in tertiary institutions whose education should not be jeopardised by the looming industrial action.
