A meeting between the federal government and the striking non-teaching staff in the universities, arranged in a bid to suspend the ongoing strike over their exclusion in the payment of the four months withheld salaries, has ended in deadlock.
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU and the National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT, have informed the government that what they needed was payment of the withheld salaries and not meetings.
The three unions claimed the Federal Government has been making promises that their concerns were receiving attention from the high quarters when nothing concrete was being done to pay them the way their sister Union, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU members were paid.
The deadlocked meeting, which started about 1pm at the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Education was presided over by the Minister, Prof. Tahir Mamman flanked by the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, the Permanent Secretary and the directors in the ministry.
On the side of the unions were the President of SSANU, Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, the General Secretary of NASU, Prince Peters Adeyemi and the President of NAAT, Comrade Ibeji Nwokoma among others.
The government team made spirited efforts to persuade the unions to suspend the ongoing strike that has paralyzed academic and administrative activities in both the public and state universities, saying that the concern they raised was receiving attention from the high quarters, but the unions were adamant in their demand for the payment of the withheld salaries.
The unions told the government that they would not hesitate to suspend the strike if they were paid the four months withheld salaries.
