As the controversial introduction of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) by the federal government continue to create problems in the education sector of the country particularly tertiary education which has led to prolonged industrial action crippling smooth learning, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU ) has lamented that the IPPS has rendered its members’ salaries really mutilated making them poorer.
The lamentation was made by the National President of SSANU, Mohammed Haruna Ibrahim, during the maiden North-East Zonal Executive Meeting and Workshop with the theme: “Team Building for Effective Service Delivery and Strategic Position for Influencing the Influencer,” which was held at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi over the weekend.
A visibly angered SSANU President said that his leadership came at a very challenging period having inherited so many problems affecting staff welfare and promotion.
He, however, said that members of the EXCO are more determined, focused and have made up their minds to pursue the identified problems and get over them for the good of the members.
Mohammed Ibrahim also said that SSANU was living in a pariah nation and was in the third row in the activities of unionism in Nigeria, but within 7 months of the new leadership, the story has started changing for good because of the synergy they are having with all those that matter.
He further said that, “The major crux is that our 2009 agreement, that somersaulted agreement, that agreement that was not done with some levels of preparedness has given us so many problems as members of SSANU.”
The SSANU National President lamented that “Our members are suffering, our members are relegated in terms of welfare but we are not deterred, although we have not arrived, we are still in the process.”
“Individually at our different levels in our universities, some of us as branch leaders were able to convince our Councils, our Managements to understand that hazard is a hazard. Everybody is facing hazards in Nigeria, members of SSANU are facing hazards,” he explained.
The Union leader added that, “We have convinced our Councils and Managements and that we have started benefitting from this (hazard) allowances and then the almighty IPPIS came, and we crash-landed. Our salaries have been mutilated, our salaries have been fractured and today, we are poorer.”
The National President eulogized the ATBU Vice-Chancellor as a simple and humble leader unlike heads of some universities who carry themselves as Governors saying, “Your Vice-Chancellor is a comrade, we can to Bauchi in the same plane this morning and I have not seen MoPol, DSS as we see in other universities moving around with a Hilux van with siren.”
He added that “This is what is happening in other universities today. Vice-Chancellors operate like governors and you dare not try them. But just after their tenure, they become something else. But we have seen your VC as a comrade, someone who is down-to-earth.”
In his speech, the Union’s Vice President, North-East, Audu Isah, lamented the state of insecurity in the country and called on the members to contribute their quota towards finding lasting solutions to the problems rather than compounding them through their utterances, actions and write-ups.
He said that: “We all know that our country is passing through difficult times at the moment. Issues of banditry, insurgency, communal clashes and all other crime and criminalities across the country have all combined to put us at the precipice.
Audu Isah further said that “As leaders, I appeal to us to remain calm in the face of these trying times. We must conduct ourselves as responsible leaders at all times in our write-ups, utterances and actions. We must be seen to be agents of unity and progress and should not allow ourselves to be used to destabilize our land, the only country in which God, in His mercies, has placed us.”
The SSANU Vice President added that “We all are stakeholders in the project called Nigeria. We should take a stand to talk less, listen more and join hands with our compatriots all over the country as we work together towards finding lasting solutions to our challenges as a country.”
Audu Isa assured that “We must continue to contribute our quota to the stability of our country. We must always remember that without peace and stability in our country, we cannot report in our offices, let alone to work and struggle for the welfare and well-being of our members.”
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