The first clearing of throat was on Thursday as they were seen protesting in the main campus of the university, in the afternoon.
Closed doors, empty secretarial seats and vacant administrative offices signaled the enforcement of the three day warning strike embarked upon by the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Jos chapter on Friday, 12 of February 2016.
The industrial action which took full swing on Friday, partially disrupted academic activities at the University especially at the permanent site of the University.
Eye witness reports indicate that the Faculty of Arts complex of the University was under lock and key on Friday morning until about 11:25am when the doors swung open but only to lecturers as students were briefly barred from the premises.
At the main building of the Permanent site also referred to as the “Noah’s ark” which houses the Faculties of Social and Management sciences, departmental offices were stripped bare of non-academic staff.
Giving reasons for the unpleasant turn of events in school, Mr. Yohanna Asehu, a contract security personnel posted temporarily to the Faculty of Arts building said the entrance door had to be locked to mark the commencement of the 3-day warning strike, to press home demands for the settlement of an outstanding debt by the school authority.
Expressing daunting hopes of the warning strike being resolved by Tuesday after a meeting between the school authority and NASU, he urged the school management to give ears to the plight of the non academic staff union and resolve the issue to forestall the problem from lingering thereby hampering the immediate future of students.
Students bitterly complained about the treatment they received at the entrance of the library block in permanent site as they were late for the 8 o clock class due to an undue security check that had never been carried out on normal days by the few security on ground.
A lecturer in the Faculty of Social Sciences who craved anonymity observed that the strike will not hinder academic activities but has a great capacity to slow it down. “For now, lecturers are on ground but administratively their (NASU) presence will be greatly missed and their absence greatly felt.”
A trip to the permanent site library revealed that the main entrance of the facility was locked in protest and only the exit door was opened with skeletal services rendered by two non-academic staff seen on ground.
Senate President, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Ochai Roys Thomas while calling on both parties to bury the hatchet said “ it is a setback. They should find a way to channel their agitations. We paid to have access to this these facilities and the lock down is deprivation”.
According to Comrade Wariya Yohanna Kida, Chairman Monitoring Committee, “The warning strike will however go on as planned as “NASU instituted monitoring committee combed the university to ensure total compliance.” He added that “the committee spread across all sites in the university has been going round to ensure that some NASU members are not boycotting the strike”
It will be recalled that the non-academic staff union of universities, Unijos chapter on Friday embarked on a three day warning strike over unpaid allowances.
The University management has however expressed its resolve to sort out issues that led to the impasse which ended midnight of Monday Febraury 15.
Meanwhile, NASU Chairman, Unijos Chapter, Comrade Bitrus Dagwer said the union is still dialoging with management even as Principal officers of the university were spotted driving themselves to school as their drivers were affected by the strike.
FULL STRIKE ACTION COMMENCES
As the union ends its three days warning strike yesterday, our correspondent gather that there was a congress meeting today to discuss the preparedness and willingness of management to resolve the impasse. According to reports reaching echoonline, congress has decided to embark on total strike action indicating that management had kept stalling the process of negotiation.
It was gathered that the decision was arrived at congress where the Chairman was absent as he was having a meeting with the governing council of the university. It was also disclosed that the meeting was rowdy while many members were in total support of the strike action.
“Management had earlier asked to be given two weeks for which the union did. It was when they were not responding that a the three days warning strike started. Now they are asking for another two weeks. The argument of members is that if their plea is considered, it would mean that a new process of initiating a strike will have to be followed. This will take nothing less than a month. So, you see, they are just buying time.”
Although efforts are been made to persuade the union not to take this ‘extreme’ decision, technically speaking, the Non Academic Staff Union, University of Jos Branch is on full strike. As at the time of filling this report, the university management and chairman of NASU are yet to be consulted on their position in this matter.
Echoonline will keep you informed of all developments as they evolve.
By EMMANUEL EJIKE, KOJAH AYOBAMI and BLESSING JAMES
