Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU), and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Imo State, joined other universities’ unions to commence strike and put academic activities on hold.  

Tuesday grounded academic and non-academic activities on the campus.

The universities’ non-teaching staff unions embarked on nationwide strike as a result of the federal government’s handling of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), the sharing formula of the N40 billion earned academic allowances and the non-payment of arrears of the new minimum wage.

It was gathered that various places such as the Senate Building, exams and records, bursary, registry, estate and works, Library, ICT, physical planning, staff schools and security unit, in FUTO were locked.

The monitoring team of the Joint Action Committee which comprised the SSANU and the NASU of FUTO led by JAC and SSANU Chairman, Uchenna Nwokeji described the compliance with the strike action as total.

He said “This strike is going well in FUTO. As you can see, the Senate Building is shut. FUTO is in support of this strike wholeheartedly. There is no water in the hostels because our people are not working.

“However, we are pained that this is going to affect our children again. We don’t want our children to remain at home. But we can’t help it because most of our union members have not been paid for months because of the IPPIS challenge.

“We plead with the Federal Government to have mercy and give the union our earned allowance, pay us minimum wage arrears and sort out the IPPIS challenge as well as fulfill the 2009 agreement.”