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The President of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, in an exclusive interview with Labour Editor, SOJI-EZE FAGBEMI, on the crisis in the university system, and how the government, defiant to all efforts made by the non-teaching unions – SSANU and NASU, will force the varsity workers to embark on an indefinite and comprehensive strike with effect from midnight on Friday 5 February. Excerpts:
You have already declared an indefinite and comprehensive total strike with effect from midnight on Friday 5. What is the justification for university workers to go on strike at this critical time?
I can tell you that all of us that are doing this are not doing it because we are happy but we are forced to do it. When you are leading an interest group like labour union, your major concern is about the welfare and well-being of your members. University system or university education is something that should not be toyed with. When a student goes to university and at the end of the programme he is awarded a degree, the word of chancellor who awards the degree will tell you that we award you this degree, having found you worthy in character and learning; it is not even in learning and character. Molding the character of students mostly has to do with our membership. You don’t mould the character of a student in the classroom, classroom is just one aspect of it. But his interaction in the hostels, his interaction within the system, in the lab, within the administration, how he acquires and how he gets support, how his life is impacted by the community is what moulds his character. Therefore, we play a greater percentage in the degree each and every student gets at the end of his programme, having been graduated. Now for us to be able to discharge these responsibilities, we must have the best of conditions of service and government that is the owner of these institutions has put in place a system with approved conditions of service for every member of staff. In the conditions of service, it is clearly spelt out, every member of staff has a schedule of duty and the schedule of duty describes exactly what you are supposed to do in the office on daily basis; if you are an administrator or an accountant or an engineer or a doctor or a nurse, name it. Like I keep saying, SSANU is a melting pot because in SSANU you get all that is in the society. You have engineers, nurses, you have doctors, you have technicians, you have administrators, you have accountants, you have auditors, name it. So, these people have peculiar jobs to do in order to keep the system going. Over the years certain demands came and government met with the labour unions. We have four university based unions- ASUU, SSANU, NASU and NAAT, each representing a section of the community. Government, having been confronted with the myriads of demands for the improvement of the welfare and the well-being of these membership, met differently with these groups, and it culminated into signing an agreement in November 2009. That agreement was signed under no compulsion, government was not under duress but it was a case of superior argument, government accepted some, rejected some. It is not that we are happy with the ones that have been rejected but as human beings, reasonable people we said okay let us go ahead , let’s take the ones that have been accepted, let’s see inputs come to fruition.
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