The Bayero University, Kano, BUK, has joined the members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, and Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities, NASU, on a 14-day warning strike in the country.
Recall that last week the national joint action committee of the two unions had directed all University branches to embark on a nationwide industrial action today, Monday, over government’s attitude in handling the Integrated Personal Payroll Information System, IPPIS.
Speaking to newsmen in Kano, the BUK chapter chairman of SSANU, Dr. Haruna Aliyu, said the government alleged poor handling of the IPPIS had subjected their members to “untold hardship” for many months.
According to him, the government had initially trapped the unions into joining the new payment system, “but to our chagrin, the reverse is the case.
“Our members have since February 2020 been witnessing irregularities and inconsistencies in their salaries. No one knows one’s exact salary,” said Mr Aliyu.
The chairman added that other issues that pushed the unions to embark on the strike include non-payment of arrears of earned allowances of members despite various memoranda of understanding; non-payment of arrears of national minimum wage and non-payment of retirement benefits to retired members.
He, therefore, urged all the unions to remain at home and respect the decisions reached on the strike action, noting that if there was no any concrete step from the government, “there would be no alternative than to embark on a full blown indefinite strike action that would ground Nigerian Universities”.
