The leadership of the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) has called on the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, to urgently intervene and ensure inclusion of its members in the Federal Government’s plan to pay withheld salaries only to one university based union.
The union had stated that over five months’ salaries of its members are being withheld by the Federal Government.
NAAT said the news of the plan to pay only one university-based union is contrary to the information the Minister of Education gave to all the unions in the sector at the high-level stakeholders meeting held recently at the National Universities Commission.
The union, in a statement jointly signed by it National President, Comrade Ideji Nwokoma and General Secretary, Comrade Abubakar V. Yusuf, added that the plan, if carried out, is unjust and unfair to other university-based unions whose members’ salaries are equally withheld.
The stamen read, “We find it very difficult to reconcile the minister’s pronouncement with the action of the Federal Government to pay only members of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) the withheld salaries to the exclusion of members of our union.
“We view this attempt as very unfair and unjust as it pitches the membership of our union against the leadership and is creating a charged atmosphere as it is a recipe for total disruption of academic activities in our campuses.
“Minister Sir, it is pertinent to draw your attention to the current economic hardship being experienced by Nigerians, including our members, occasioned by removal of petroleum subsidy, which has made life very unbearable due to high cost of living coupled with the purchasing power of our currency being grossly eroded, rendering the salaries of workers with little or no value.”
The union further added, “The persistent failure of Federal Government to honour and implement agreements freely entered through collective bargaining was what led the unions in university sector to embark on the strike action in the first place. Moreover, the laboratory/workshop and studio work lost during the strike has been covered by academic technologists as students had since graduated and some completed the mandatory National Youth Service programme.
“These agreements include the recent 16-point agreement freely signed with the two labour centres, Nigerian Labour Congress (NIC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and other Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) signed between our union and the Federal Government where the non-implementation has further compounded an already precarious situation.
“It is only fair and reasonable for the Federal Government to ruminate on the path taken, which, in our opinion, is unfair and will not guarantee peaceful coexistence and industrial harmony that we all desire.
“We, therefore, strongly appeal to the minister to look at the plight of our members and expeditiously pay the over five-month withheld salaries, implement the 25 percent and 35 percent approved salary increase with arrears and release the arrears of earned allowances of NAAT members as contained in the MoU signed between NAAT and Federal Government on August 17, 2022.”
On the release of N630 billion TETFund intervention by the president, the union said, “We commend the good efforts of the President Bola Tinubu in repositioning the country towards economic growth and prosperity through the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda and his commitment towards uplifting the educational sector through infrastructural and human capital development, especially with regards to recent release of about N630 billion intervention to universities and other tertiary institutions, as approved by the president and announced by the Executive Secretary of TETFund.”
