N22.1bn Allowance: NASU, SSANU Begins Protest Over Sharing Formula

Strong indications have emerged that university workers under the aegis of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions will today begin a three-day nationwide protest over the sharing formula for the N22.1 billion earned allowance promised by the federal government.

The federal government had pledged to pay a total of N22.17 billion naira for staff members of federal universities.

However, the sharing formula for the money meant for members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, SSANU and NASU has been generating controversies.

Consequently, the university workers will protest from today to Friday. The directive to begin the protest was contained in a circular addressed to all branch chairmen of NASU and SSANU.

Signed by NASU’s Secretary General, Peters Adeyemi; and SSANU’s National President, Muhammed Ibrahim, the circular partly reads, “The National Joint Action committee of NASU and SSANU held a zoom meeting on Monday November 8, 2021 to review the latest development in our universities and inter university centres.

“We have decided that all our branches should mandatorily call a general meeting of NASU and SSANU on Wednesday, November 10, 2021 and from there commence a three-day protest from Wednesday, November 10, 2021 to Friday, November 12, 2021.

“The protest should be centred on the proposed provocative sharing formula to be used for the next tranche of N22.17 billion to be released by the Federal government at the rate of 75 percent to academic and 25 percent to non-teaching staff.

“It should also be centred on the refusal of the Federal government to pay the arrears of the minimum wage consequential agreement as at the last meeting with the Federal Government on August 26, 2021.”

But the leadership asked that the protest should be within the campuses and that each branch should determine the activities that will be carried out on each day of the protest.