The protesters, who turned out in large numbers at the premises of the university, were heard chanting solidarity songs while bearing placards with various inscriptions.
Some of the placards read, “We reject injustice in the payment of withheld salaries; NASU/SANNU demand the implementation of 2009 agreement; No SSANU, no NASU, no university; JAC of NASSU and SANU call on Fed. Govt. to pay our four months withheld salaries; Join us now in this protest, we are Nigerian workers, we are university staff, we are members of NASSU and NASU.”
Led by the NASU chairman of the UNEC branch, Comrade Eric Eze, the protesters gathered to express their frustration over unfair treatment by the federal government, adding that the protest was in compliance with the directive of the national body.
Comrade Eze detailed the various grievances faced by NASU members, including the non-payment of four months’ salaries.
“We have come to register our displeasure over the insensitivity of the federal government towards our plight in the university. We, the non-teaching staff of the universities, have been shortchanged and treated with contempt.
“In 2022, the government forced us to embark on a strike. After that strike, the government called our national body for a meeting where the impasse was resolved, and an MOU was signed.
“It was agreed that there would be no victimization of any sort. But we are surprised that until now, we are still owed our four months arrears salaries,” he said.
The NASU chairman highlighted the disparity in treatment between non-teaching staff and their academic counterparts, who have received their salaries despite similar strike actions.
In addition to salary issues, Eze pointed to the government’s failure to implement the 2009 agreement, which includes the payment of N50 billion in earned allowances and the reabsorption of primary school staff into the university workforce.
He also criticized the usurpation of non-teaching staff duties by academic staff, a practice the agreement aimed to halt.
“It is more disturbing to realize that our academic counterparts, who were forced out of strike through a court order, have been paid. That is the height of injustice. We are left with no choice but to come out here to let the world know that the government is not being fair to us.
“The government is mistreating us. We are going to sustain this protest if this money is not paid. We are waiting for the nod of the national body. If they tell us to shut down the university, we are going to do that,” he said.
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