SSANU (LASU) Protest, Demands Salary Arrears at Convocation
Lagos State University (LASU) chapter of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) created scenes at the University’s convocation when they staged a protest, demanding for their salary arrears. They carried placards with inscriptions, such as “No more maladministration in LASU;” “Pay us our June and July salaries;” “Obafunwa is killing LASU” and “Our salary is our right.”
Read the full details as reported by PunchNG:
There was confusion again at the Lagos State University, Ojo on Wednesday as workers disrupted the proceedings of the institution’s 19th convocation.
The workers, comprising mainly members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, chanted solidarity songs as they protested against what they called the “authorities’ insensitivity to their plight.”
The SSANU members, who defiled the heavy security presence on campus, held the university management team to ransom moments after they marched out of the convocation arena.
They carried placards with inscriptions, such as “No more maladministration in LASU;” “Pay us our June and July salaries;” “Obafunwa is killing LASU” and “Our salary is our right.”
Though their action was peaceful, security operatives discreetly whisked away the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. John Obafunwa, from the convocation arena.
On finding that the VC had left the venue, the protesting workers marched to the major road on campus and blocked it with their Toyota bus, an action that caused heavy traffic in the institution for more than three hours.
It took the intervention of the institution’s Registrar, Oladapo Lewis, who addressed some of the SSANU members led by their Chairman, Mr. Saheed Oseni, at the Administrative Block of the university, to agree to end the agitation on Wednesday.
They, however, vowed to continue the protest on Thursday. The second leg of the convocation holds on Thursday and the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola is to inaugurate some projects on campus.
Oseni, while responding to the Registrar’s call for peace, declared that the authorities would face “a more embarrassing situation” on Thursday should they fail to address their grievances.
He said, “Thursday will be worse than this should the university council and the state government fail to pay our June and July salaries. The protest is going to be massive. The action of today is just a tip of the iceberg.
“We are requesting the unconditional release of salaries. It is not right for the authorities to hold this kind of ceremony where workers are hungry. Even if they deploy one million policemen on campus tomorrow, they cannot stop us if they fail to pay our salaries.”
Earlier, during the brief convocation ceremonies, which lasted less than an hour, Obafunwa urged the graduating students to continue to excel in their chosen fields.
No fewer than 9,169 graduands passed out from the university with 12 of them obtaining First Class.
