Date: 2017-07-06

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, an affiliate of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, on Wednesday, suspended its ongoing strike in some federal unity colleges in the country for 30 days.

The suspension was to enable the government to pay the outstanding salaries of the teachers, failing which "a full-blown strike will start in all the 104 federal unity colleges throughout the country."

The organisation said the decision followed appeals by stakeholders, including parents, guardians and other well-meaning Nigerians.

A statement by the Secretary-General of ASCSN, Alade Lawal, stated that the strike was suspended after a meeting of the leadership of the union with the zonal coordinators and its unit chairmen in the affected colleges.

The association stated, "The meeting reviewed the ongoing strike in some federal unity colleges, where salaries for some specific months were skipped and not paid, and noted the mounting appeals by parents, guardians and other well-meaning Nigerians to the union to suspend the industrial action in the interest of the students and the system.?

"Consequently, the meeting resolved to suspend the strike for 30 days to enable the government to pay the outstanding salaries, failing which a full-blown strike will start in all the 104 Federal Unity Colleges throughout the country."

For the past eight weeks, unity schools in Nise, Anambra State; Sagamu, Ogun State; Ilorin, Kwara State; Ikirun, Osun State; Ilesa, Osun State; Doma, Nasarawa State; Otukpo, Benue State; Warri, Delta State; Omu-Aran, Kwara State; and Rubochi, Abuja, have been on strike over non-payment of arrears and allowances.

The ASCSN had, early this year, said it had "mobilised members to shut down Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government in the next few weeks" following government's refusal to pay promotion arrears, outstanding salaries and other allowances of workers.

The union had demanded that the Federal Government should immediately commence the process of paying those debts with the sum provided for under the virement arrangement to the affected workers so as to convince all and sundry that the government meant well for its employees.

Lawal had regretted that more than one year after the promotion arrears were computed by a presidential committee and report submitted to the Presidency, the government had continued to politicise the payment.