*We Can’t Pay Children’s School Fees, Feed, Transport Ourselves To Work, They Lament
By Sam Tyav, Makurdi
Striking non-academic staff of Moses Orshio Adasu University Makurdi (MOAUM) have insisted that their ongoing industrial action would continue until their demands are met.
Barely two weeks ago, the University’s branch of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), under the auspices of Joint Action Committee (JAC), declared a strike to press home their demands for better welfare and operational conditions.
Disturbed by the development, the management of the university led by the Acting Vice Chancellor (VC), Professor Simon Terver Ubwa, appealed to the unions to sheath their swords as the Benue State Government,owner of the institution, and the institution’s management were working round the clock to ensure that their demands were met.
The Acting VC particularly pleaded with labour leaders to give the university management only three weeks to attend to their demands –but all the pleas fell on deaf ears.
The State Government also intervened in the matter with the Head of Service (HoS), Dr. Moses Agbogbo Ode, urging NASU to suspend the strike to pave the way for amicable resolution of their grievances.
He made the plea during a meeting between government officials, top management of the university and labour leaders,last Wednesday.
Ode further appealed to the union leaders to understand that industrial harmony was necessary as no dispute could be resolved in an atmosphere of chaos.
At the meeting too, Professor Ubwa, who also appealed to the unions, extolled the leadership style of State Governor Hyacinth Alia for taking the welfare of workers in the State as top priority.
Ubwa assured that the university management was ready to implement government’s policies for the benefit of staff.
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman of SSANU, Comrade Luper Shishi, who doubles as Chairman of JAC, promised that they would convey the message to their congresses and report back whatever resolutions the workers came up with to the Head of Service as well as the University authorities.
But at their congress yesterday (Friday, September 19), barely 48 hours after their meeting with the HoS, the unions insisted that they would continue with strike until their demands were met.
Speaking with journalists after the congress, the JAC Chairman said that they (labour leaders) had duly conveyed the authorities’ appeals to the congress but, according to him, the latter insisted on continuing with the strike until their demands were clearly seen to have been taken care of.
The university’s NASU Chairman, Comrade Terfa Hembaor Samuel, who briefed newsmen alongside the JAC Chairman, confirmed that they conveyed the appeals to the congress but that the congress, in turn, also appealed to the government and university management to instead meet their demands.
The union leaders revealed that the workers’ grievances included non-implementation of national minimum wage; non-implementation of promotion; non-payment of arrears as well as the 25 and 35 percent 2023 promotion arrears.
According to them, the dire situation had crippled most workers and made them not financially solvent enough to go to work daily, or feed properly, go to hospitals, and pay their children’s school fees.
He said they were meeting the authorities’ appeals with counter-appeals to pay up and see workers back at work.
PHOTO CAPTION: Comrade Shishi.
