Varsity Unions’ Strike Throws UI Into Darkness

The strike embarked upon by members of the Non Academic Staff (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has thrown the University of Ibadan (UI) into darkness.
Speaking on the effect of the strike, chairman of SSANU, UI, Mr. Rasak Omisore, said the union was forced to down tools to press home their demands.
He said their agitations included unpaid four months’ salaries and funding of the universities, both at the federal and state levels.

Omisore added that there would be no meaningful development in Nigeria if the funding of education took the back seat, saying, “We are also talking about the constitution of governing councils for all the universities where their councils have been dissolved, as the importance of councils in universities cannot be underestimated.
“We are expecting the federal government to invite the national council of our union to address the issues of our demands,” Omisore said.
He said almost all the offices in the university were locked with members of staff in the administrative offices not on duty.

“Yes, you see students on campus, and they are receiving their lectures because ASUU is not on strike, but the works and maintenance department is a very vital part of the university as there has neither been light nor water due to the strike.
“Establishment offices are not working and Jaja is on skeletal duty,” the chairman said.
Meanwhile, the leadership of UI Students’ Union, led by its president, Tobiloba Samuel, said it had met with SSANU to plead for the restoration of power in the hostels.

Samuel called on the government to accede to the demands of the unions as students bear the brunt of the faceoff.
“We have to come to the understanding that every member of the university community is very important and if the teaching staff, the non-teaching staff, and the students are not at the optimum level, we cannot have the effective academic environment that we need.