The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) yesterday in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, threatened to embark on a warning strike over unpaid salary arrears of its members.
The General Secretary of NASU, Mr Peters Adeyemi, gave the indication at the opening of a two-day National Executive Council meeting of the union.
He said members of the union had not been paid August and September salaries.
“NASU will soon commence a nationwide strike in all the nation’s universities because members have not been paid salaries for two months.
“For us, it does not make any sense to keep the universities running when we have not been paid salaries.
“One of the issues we will consider at this meeting is that we will not continue to keep the system running if government fails to pay our salaries,” Adeyemi said.
Also speaking, President of the union, Mrs Ladi Iliya, said the organisation would not support any attempt to sack, retrench or victimise NASU members under the guise of implementing the Needs Assessment Reports (NAR).
She said, ‘contrary to reports, the university system is not overloaded with non-academic staff.
“Our research has confirmed that most of the universities are short of non-academic staff because many have left the system without being replaced.
“It is not also true that substantial part of the universities funds is being expended on non-academic staff.”
In his remarks, the Kwara Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Science and Technology, Alhaji Aliyu Lade urged the union to enroll its members for the contributory pension scheme.
He said the scheme would guarantee better life after service for members.

L-R: Parents of late Tekena, Mr Friday Elkanah, his wife, Faith and representative of late Ugonna Obuzor’s father, Mr Anthony Egbuche, at a news conference on the activities marking one year memorial of the four killed students of University of Port Harcourt in Port Harcourt, yesterday