The Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) at the Nnamdi Azikwe University (UNIZIK), Awka in Anambra State, on Monday embarked on an indefinite industrial action to demand payment of earned allowances.

The workers began the strike on the same day their colleagues in the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) resumed full academic activities at the university after their nationwide strike.

In a phone interview with PREMIUM TIMES, the chairperson of NASU at the university, Njideka Nwangwu, said the university management has refused to disburse to non-academic staff the earned allowances released by the government to the university in the second week of January.

She said other universities had paid all their workers. She said the university claimed the delay in disbursement was because the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) was yet to sign, whereas in 2017 NASU and SSANU did not sign but the allowance was disbursed.

She alleged that even the 2017 payment was skewed in favour of NAAT.

“The university management has always favoured one union against the other two and using the divide and rule system,” she said.

Mrs Nwangwu said since the only language the system understands is the strike, the unions would not resume until they are paid.

She pleaded with the students to show understanding with the workers over the strike.

At 11.21 a.m Tuesday, a reliable source told PREMIUM Times that the university’s branch of NAAT was having an emergency congress.

Asked of the agenda of the meeting, Chinedu Abbas, the NAAT secretary, said he would get back to this newspaper.