The Joint Action Committee of the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) have condemned what they described as a “charade” during the inauguration of the Renegotiation Committee for the 2009 Agreements with university-based unions on Tuesday.

In a statement, the unions criticized the event for its obvious bias towards the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), neglecting the other unions.

The statement, issued to journalist on Wednesday, was signed by Mohammed Ibrahim,

President, SSANU and Peters Adeyemi, General Secretary, NASU.

They noted that the invitations to the event referenced ASUU, suggesting that the communications originated from ASUU’s files rather than from NASU and SSANU.

According to both unions, the Minister of Education’s speech during the inauguration, predominantly focused on ASUU, with only brief mentions of the other unions, leading to a situation where the ASUU President was placed at the forefront of the proceedings, while leaders from NASU and SSANU were sidelined.

The JAC asserted that the two unions were invited merely as “spectators,” downplaying their roles and contributions to the negotiation process.

The event, they argued, demonstrated an imbalance in representation and raised concerns about the fairness of future negotiations, particularly regarding the treatment of non-teaching staff.

The committee condemned the inauguration, stating that it signals a potential bias favoring academic staff at the expense of non-teaching personnel.

“The event appeared to have been primarily focused on ASUU with the other unions seemingly included as an afterthought as the Honourable Minister of Education’s inauguration speech centered almost entirely on ASUU, with only brief and cursory mentions of the other unions.

“To confirm our fears, at the venue of the inauguration, the two unions witnessed a most humiliating experience where the President of ASUU was placed on what was referred to as the “Responsibility table and the presidents of other unions looked on from their positions of “irresponsibility”

“From the proceeding. It was obvious that NASU and SSANU were only invited as mere spectators to give a semblance of legitimacy and acceptability to an already concluded renegotiation exercise. That the President of ASUU alone was invited to give a response on behalf of other unions without consultation and he ended up speaking on behalf of his union this clearly showed that the opinions and experiences of other Unions do not matter in the renegotiation.

“The proceedings of the entire inauguration has clearly shown the imbalance of relationship and the obvious unfair treatment that would be meted out to NASU and SSANU if the renegotiation process continues in this manner.

“Consequently, the JAC of NASU and SSANU hereby condemns the entire charade that took place today, in the name of an inauguration as it signals a potential bias in favour of academic staff in the upcoming negotiations, to the detriment of non-teaching staff and therefore expresses our misgivings about the process of the inauguration,” the document read.