Lesss than a week to the inauguration of Nigeria's President-elect, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'adua, University workers under the aegis of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) yesterday said are fully in support of the move by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) to protest the out-come of the last April general elections.
The union whose members are drawn for the over 50 federal and state Universities in Nigeria, said it would take part in the series of labour-organized mass actions to protest the conduct of the election.
NLC had in its rejection of the results of the April polls, called for a 2-day mass action by Nigerian workers from May 28 - 29 to protest the validity of the elections and the leaders that emerged thereof. While describing the April polls as far from being free and fair, the union said it would ask its members to participate in the election protest beginning with the May 28, sit-at-home directive by NLC.
In communiqué issued at the end of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of SSANU held at the University of Agriculture , Abeokuta , Ogun Sate, the union said it has resolved to back the directive of the Nigeria Labour Congress and its Civil Society Allies, that Nigerians take part in a series of mass actions to protest the conduct of the elections, beginning with the sit-at-home protest on the 28th of May.
"After full consideration and review of the 2007 elections agreed that the conduct was far from being free and fair. NEC therefore resolved to back the directive of the Nigeria Labour Congress and its Civil Society Allies, that Nigerians take part in a series of mass actions to protest the conduct of the elections, beginning with the sit-at-home protest on the 28th of May. Consequently, NEC directs all SSANU members to fully participate in the actions as may be directed by the NLC", it said.
SSANU in the communiqué signed by its National president, Comrade P.A.K. Adewusi also condemned the hurried sale of Public Refineries by the federal government adding that "it supports all the actions proposed by the sectoral unions to protest this insensitive sale".
On the issue of the reform in the education sector, SSANU expressed concern that the current reform measures directed at the Education Sector by the Federal Government will lead to retrenchment of staff with its attendant hardships on the affected workers.
"It has become self-evident that the only critical element in the so-called reforms is the retrenchment of staff which has the potentials of increasing social vices, manifest hardship and hopelessness in the polity, leading to untimely deaths in many Nigerian families", the union said. SSANU said that in as much as it supports genuine reforms that could reposition the Sector towards a more productive and competitive endeavour in the world of learning, the current trend in the Sector leaves much to be desired.
The communiqué therefore condemns what it described as
inhuman policy of staff retrenchment in Federal Universities, and accordingly calls on the Federal government to suspend the retrenchments forthwith.
It further directs its members not to accept any letter of disengagement arising from the said retrenchment exercise.
The union regretted that the outsourcing of certain jobs as thrown up by the reforms, has reintroduced casualisation in the Public Service through the back door adding that this is a negation of extant International Labour Organization's Conventions.
"We see this as a strange paradox that instead of creating the new jobs, government is busy sweeping away existing jobs' , SSANU said.
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