UNIABUJA SSANU threatens down tools May 2

The leadership of the University of Abuja branch of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), on Tuesday in Abuja threatened to down tools on the 2nd of next month if the school management refuses to fully pay them their outstanding salaries, review their working conditions including the employment of widows of their late colleagues and investigate pending cases of corrupt practices and the circumstance surrounding the employment of new staff.
The branch Chairman of the union, Engineer Jude Obuneme Nwabueze, who addressed the media on Tuesday shortly after SSANU congress meeting in Abuja, said the Vice Chancellor is not telling them the truth about the true situation in the institution.
He said: ’’We are calling on government to alleviate the pains of our suffering members so that we will not go to our untimely grave. We will not fold our hands and watch a few people destroy our future’’.
Nwabueze, who admitted that they were only paid half salary in March, added that  the 11 widow members of the union who were clamouring for employment into the university have no binding contract with the university, saying that they must be employed upon the death of their spouses.
He also faulted the claim by the university authorities that the shortfall in subvention from government is responsible for the salary cut and the withholding of other entitlements, saying the university management can augment the shortfall with revenues from IGR, CDL and other internal sources.
When asked if the union is ready for dialogue should the institution wave the olive branch, he was affirmative but insisted that such an interaction must be sincere and definitive. He asked the Vice Chancellor to stop shielding corrupt officers and to conclude investigations on proven ones.