The ongoing nationwide warning strike by the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) would degenerate into an indefinite one unless the federal government implements the agreement it signed with the union.

Taiwo Arobadi, Chairman, SSANU, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) branch, made this known in an interview on Monday in Ile-Ife, Osun State.

“If the FG does the needful within the two-week warning strike, we would go back to our offices and work immediately, but failure to comply would lead to an indefinite strike,” Mr Arobadi said.

He said that the ongoing two weeks warning strike was to press for the payment of their entitlements by the federal government.

Mr Arobadi said that in October 2020 and February 2021, the federal government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Memorandum of Action (MoA), respectively, with the association without implementing them to date.

The chairman explained that hazard allowance, responsibility allowance and some other issues, which its members were agitating for, were agreed to in the MoA allowance.

He said that SSANU also re-negotiated the 2009 agreement, during which they rejected the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) introduced by the government.

He noted that accepting IPPIS would have an adverse effect on all federal universities’ staff salaries because it would culminate in their being underpaid.

Mr Arobadi noted that by implication, IPPIS would for instance pay N45,000 to staff who are earning N70,000 monthly.

(NAN)