Raymond Ozoji , Awka
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities ( SSANU ) Nnamdi Azikiwe University branch on Friday threatened to disrupt the matriculation ceremony slated for Saturday 9th February 2018 on grounds of management's insensitivity to the plight of non-teaching staff of the university .
Members of the union were spotted on the campus chanting solidarity songs saying that there would be no matriculation exercise until the management of the institution refrained from marginalising non-teaching staff as they were not slaves nor second class citizens .
Nwangwu stated that the union was vehemently kicking against all forms of marginalisation meted out on non-teaching staff in Unizik .She lamented that two of the union's members have gone blind on account of the functions they perform in the office adding that the federal government has released their hazard allowance but accused the university management of sitting on their harzard allowance .
Nwangwu who also doubles as the chairperson of Joint Action Committee of NAT ,NASU and SSANU , noted that the national body of the union made it clear that the non-teaching staff of Nigerian universities must be given their rightful position in the nation's university system stressing that the union's apex body will invade Nnamdi Azikiwe University as well as all other universities refusing to pay entitlements non-academic staff .
Meanwhile the institution's Public Relations Officer Dr.Emmanuel Ojukwu who spoke with our correspondent in his office , said it was not right for the striking workers to disrupt the matriculation ceremony scheduled to hold tomorrow .
He was of the opinion that government was on the verge of addressing their grievances and as such there was no reason whatsoever to forment trouble .
Ojukwu noted that the non-teaching staff have not come to work since December last year yet they got their salaries regularly pointing out that the matriculation ceremony was an academic exercise and ASUU was not on strike .