FG plans to address salary backlogs of University staff – Minister
By Innocent Raphael
The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, has disclosed that the Federal Government’s intention to tackle the salary backlogs affecting members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU).
Prof. Mamman revealed this in a recent interview on Channels Television’s Politics Tooday.
He said that the government has devised a plan to disburse half of the withheld salaries to the unions, pending approval from President Bola Tinubu.
However, he emphasized that compensation for academic staff is discretionary and may not automatically extend to non-academic staff.
Addressing concerns about the disparity in compensation, Prof. Mamman clarified that non-academic staff members were not on strike for the same duration in 2022 as their academic counterparts.
Nonetheless, he assured that the government is actively working to provide relief for non-academic University staff.
The announcement comes as a ray of hope for affected university staff, with the government reaffirming its commitment to resolving the longstanding salary issues plaguing SSANU and NASU members.
Recall that in 2022, all University unions undertook an eight-month strike to push for better welfare conditions, with former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration enforcing a ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy during the period.
However, last October, President Tinubu authorized the release of four months’ withheld salaries, but solely for academic staff.
Responding to accusations of discrimination, Mamman stressed the unity among university staff, refuting any deliberate exclusion and instead attributing it to initial communication difficulties.
