According to Channels, the non-academic staff unions, NASU and SSANU, are fed up and ready to take action. As Prince Peters Adeyemi, the General Secretary of NASU, puts it, "The government has failed to pay our members four months' worth of withheld salaries, and they've shown a complete lack of commitment to resolving our issues."
Comrade Mohammed H. Ibrahim, the National President of SSANU, echoes this sentiment, saying, "We've tried to engage with the Minister of Education and the Minister of State for Labour & Employment, but they've just given us empty promises. It's time for us to take a stand against the government's abandonment and disrespect."
The unions have a clear plan of action. Adeyemi explains, "We've directed our members to hold a general meeting on July 8th to discuss the situation. Then, on July 9th, we'll be holding a one-day protest across all our branches." Ibrahim adds, "And on July 18th, we'll be staging a national protest in Abuja. This is just the beginning; after that, the Joint Action Committee will meet to decide on a date for a potential strike action."
The unions are not messing around. As Adeyemi puts it, "We're ready to take drastic measures to get the government's attention and force them to address our grievances. They need to start taking us seriously, or they might just find themselves facing a full-blown strike." The ball is in the government's court, and the unions are watching closely to see if they'll finally do the right thing.