Mohammed Ibrahim, the national president of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has kicked against the alleged preferential treatment accorded to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over other unions by the Federal Government.

Mr. Ibrahim while speaking at a Channels TV broadcast on Monday said that his union members will not accept being called second class to ASUU.

“The issue of whether we are treated as second class or not, I don’t believe. I am not a second class, and I don’t believe my members will take that,” Mr. Ibrahim said. “But then we all know that we are in the university either as students or members of staff, no section of the university can be done away with.”

The union’s president  said that the N40billion approved by the federal government while negotiating  with ASUU was meant for the four university based unions, adding that the government had no business with how the unions shared the funds it reeled out.

“The minister of labour mentioned that the N40billion was meant for the four university base unions, if I heard him right, and I’m sure it is also in the public knowledge and when it was time to share the money, that was where issues arose, that a certain 75 percent was given to one Union and then 25 per cent was given to three unions,” Mr. Ibrahim said.

“Government has no business with what should go to ASUU or the three other unions, these members of the four unions are public servants that are working in public universities and everybody has his calling and schedule of duty. If you give these universities this money they will know exactly how to pay and how to disburse it,” He added.

ASUU in December called off its nine months strike after reaching an agreement with the federal government.

Less than two months after, SSANU and NASU also embarked on an indefinite strike to  compel the President Muhammadu Buhari regime to address their demands, which include rectifying  inconsistencies in the Integrated Payroll Personnel Information System (IPPIS), non-payment of minimum wage arrears, delay in initiating negotiation with the union as regards its 2009 agreement, among others.

Attempting to measure up with the relevance of ASUU, Mr. Ibrahim said that Non-academic staff were responsible for 70 to 80 percent of the student’s character in the university.

“When you are awarded a degree at the end of your sojourn, you’re awarded a degree for having found you worthy in both character and learning, it is not even learning before character,” he said.

“And therefore nobody should think that the other members of the non-teaching staff’ cadre are lesser mortals or they are second class citizens,” he added “for us, in SSANU and NASU we are not competing with ASUU. What we are saying is that the government should give us a level playing field.”

The unions will on Thursday return to the negotiation table with the federal government team in a bid to end its 3-day old strike.