Hardships: SSANU begs FG to sign 2009 renegotiation agreement

The National Vice Chairman and Chairman, Western Zone, of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Dr Abdussobur Olayiwola Salaam, has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to resolve the issue of the renegotiation of the 2009 Agreement within the shortest possible time.

Salaam said that though negotiation between the FG and SSANU is almost concluded, the timely completion and the eventual signing of the agreement will go a long way in ameliorating the adverse effects of the current economic situation on SSANU members across the nation.

The SSANU National Vice President, who stated this at the 79th Statutory Meeting of the Zonal Executive Council (ZEC) Western Zone of the SSANU, held at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, on Thursday, disclosed that his members are becoming greatly agitated by the delay in the signing of the agreements, which he declared to be long overdue.

He emphasised that SSANU is neither a belligerent nor strike-happy union, but it will not sit idly when the welfare or well-being of its members is not given priority by the authorities, urging the FG to conclude all the arrangements for the signing of the 2009 renegotiation agreements as soon as possible.

“This meeting has been called to deliberate on a lot of issues affecting our members from across the 26 universities that represent the Southwest Zone in the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities. So we have representatives from all the 24 universities in the zone here gathered. And having said that, we shall be deliberating on issues of career structure, issues of remuneration, and issues bordering on conflict management amongst unions and members in the various branches. 

“So, our charge here is to see that those pressing issues that affect our members, particularly the issue of negotiation of our 2009 Agreement, which has been long in coming to be resolved within the shortest possible time. Our members are becoming highly restive. They are becoming greatly agitated by the delay in the signing of the agreements. So we want to call on the federal government to conclude all the arrangements for the signing within the shortest time possible.

“And when we say that in SSANU we are belligerent, it doesn’t mean that we are stupid. What it means is that we would ensure that before we embark on any industrial action, we have exhausted all mechanisms for peaceful engagement, all mechanisms in terms of communications, in terms of letters, in terms of reminders, and what have you.

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“Having exhausted all those mediums, it is only at that point that we now engage in industrial action. We are not a strike-happy union. We are not a union that wants to shut down the gates and all that. But we’re a union that wants to seek engagement with the government. We believe that when all parties are responsible and alive to their responsibilities, most of these issues affecting the university system would be effectively resolved,” he said.

Salaam, however, argued that SSANU members, like other Nigerians, are not immune to the current economic hardship in the country, declaring that it has become extremely difficult for his members to survive on a daily basis.

“In the face of this hardship that we are all going through, even as a nation, particularly as it affects transportation and all that, Yes, we are not faulting the idea behind removal of subsidy; I think it is even too late for that, having been on that move for almost about four years or three years counting now. But what we are saying is that the government must look for ways of ensuring that they ameliorate the hardships  that people are going through. There are a lot of existential hardships people go through today because of transportation, because of feeding, because of living. 

“The government must think outside the box at this material point in time to see how they can be able to ameliorate those hardships. I do not think that it is the desire of the government to continue to lead dead citizens. It is the desire of the government to lead living citizens. But we shouldn’t be dead while we are alive because gradually Nigerians are becoming dead even while alive because they cannot cater for their basic needs. They cannot cater for the security that has broken down. The cost of living is at its highest level.  Inflation is at its highest level. So what we are saying is that the government must be able to think outside the box to ensure that we do not have dead citizens in Nigeria”, SSANU National Vice President submitted.

Salaam commended the management of the Olabisi Onabanjo University for opening up a platform for the SSANU members to be able to attain CONTIS 15 in the career progression.

“CONTIS 15 is a ladder, which we have asked that university management must expand to enable our members to also climb to it. The highest point in the university system for non-teaching staff is CONTIS 15. So people get to Contis 14, and then they stagnate there. You find people who are spending 10, 15 years getting to CONTIS 14 and just staying there. Not for the reason of incompetence, but because one way or the other, circumstances have forced them to stay there.

“So our agitation over time has been, and that’s why we commend the management of Olabisi Onabanjo University for opening that platform for our members to be able to climb to Contis 15. By climbing to Contis 15, what it will do is that it will enhance or promote career fulfillment for our members, knowing that they have reached the peak of their careers,” he stated.

In his welcome address, the Chairperson of SSANU, OOU Branch, Dr Abiodun Lamina, said the union under his leadership has been taken to an enviable height in the struggle for staff welfare and individual advancement.

He highlighted challenges confronting the union in the university, including shortage of non-teaching staff, transportation, TETfund allocation, training and retraining of members, among others.

Declaring the meeting open, OOU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ayodeji Agboola, commended the leadership and members of SSANU in the institution for their cooperation with management of the school.

Represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), Prof. Oladipo Olubomehin, the VC said that due to the cordial relationship between the Union and university management, all the 54 courses being run by the OOU are fully accredited by the National University Commission (NUC).

He, however, disclosed that OOU management had resolved to approve and implement the 2009 agreement between SSANU and the FG as soon as it was signed.