Activities at the University of Benin were disrupted on Monday following the decision of the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) to embark on a nationwide strike as directed by their national leadership.
During a joint congress held at the sports complex on the Ugbowo Campus, the union leaders announced the formation of a monitoring committee to ensure compliance with the strike directive among affected members.
The national bodies of both associations called for the indefinite strike after exhausting all avenues to compel the federal government to pay their four months’ salary arrears, which had not yielded results.
As a result of the strike, activities in the library, health center, and sports complex were suspended, with only private security personnel remaining at the gates.
Speaking at the meeting, Anthony Igbinosa, Chairman of NASU at the university, stated, “The president said they should give us 50 percent of what they owe us, which is two months, so we gladly left and happily told our people that we are expecting two months to start from somewhere. From July 18 until now is almost three months, but at the end of the day, we are told that it is the Minister of Finance sitting on top of the president’s directive. If the president is serious, how can an appointee override his directive?”
Broderick Osewa, the SSANU counterpart, assured journalists that to ensure compliance with the strike, “We have decided to commence the strike, and there is a monitoring team that will go around to ensure total compliance in our university.”
