N22bn earned allowance: Varsity workers threaten to shut down labs, research centres

The National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) has warned the Federal Government to implement its resolutions as contained in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it signed where it promised to share the newly released N22 billion earned allowance to each of the unions.

Recall that the non-teaching staff unions had rejected the 25 per cent sharing formula allocated to them from the fund – a development that has caused crises within the university environment.

Addressing journalists at the labour house in Abuja, President of NAAT, Ibeji Nwokoma, said its members would not hesitate to respond accordingly by shutting down laboratories, workshops, research centres and halt any further research across all universities if the government failed to do the needful.

He said, “Going forward, what we are saying is that we need the minister to talk to us. We have not said strike in the first instance.

“All of us know that the only language the government understands is strike action, and if at the end of our two-month ultimatum the government fails to do anything, of course we will draw the attention of our members.

“This time around, it is going to be the mother of all strike actions. We are going to close the laboratories, we are going to close the workshops, we are going to close research centres and there will be no research programmes in any of the institutions.”

On the deadline given to workers on compulsory vaccination, Nwokoma said the Federal Government should rescind its decision, saying it would do everything within the ambit of law to reject the compulsion on citizens.

According to him, “Our position on compulsory vaccination for our workers is that we are of the view that it is very wrong for the government to say that vaccination should be compulsory. Vaccination cannot and should not be made compulsory for citizens.

“We will rather plead with the government to work on the conscience of the people or encourage people to go and do vaccination if anybody thinks he should take it. We are asking the government to please withdraw that deadline as it is not proper to ask citizens to be compulsorily vaccinated.”

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