By Sesi Noah The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated I...
By Sesi Noah
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) have warned that public universities nationwide will be shut down from September 22 if the federal government fails to address their outstanding demands.
The two unions, under the umbrella of the Joint Action Committee (JAC), issued a seven-day ultimatum starting September 15, citing government’s neglect of key issues affecting non-teaching staff.
Among the grievances are:
The federal government’s failure to renegotiate the 2009 agreements,
The exclusion of inter-university centres from the disbursement of the ₦50 billion earned allowances,
And the non-payment of two months’ withheld salaries.
In a letter to the Minister of Education dated September 12, 2025, and signed by NASU General Secretary, Prince Peters A. Adeyemi, alongside SSANU President, Comrade Mohammed Haruna Ibrahim, the unions accused the minister of showing little concern for the welfare of non-teaching staff.
They recalled that a meeting was held with the minister on July 4, 2025, where it was agreed to set up a tripartite committee involving the Ministry of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), and JAC, to resolve the disputes around the skewed sharing of the ₦50 billion earned allowances. But, according to the unions, nothing tangible has come out of the resolution since then.
They also noted that their reminder letter of August 18, 2025 was ignored, describing it as either silence or a deliberate snub of their concerns.
Expressing frustration at the continuous delay in renegotiating the 2009 agreements, the unions warned:
Given the government’s persistent failure to act, we are left with no choice but to serve this notice. If by September 22 nothing is done, NASU and SSANU members across universities and inter-university centres will embark on strike and other legitimate industrial actions until our demands are met.
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