SSANU and NASU Declare Seven-Day Warning Strike Over Unpaid Salaries

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) jointly declared a seven-day warning strike on Monday to protest the withholding of their four months’ salary by the Federal Government. The decision was made following a meeting of their joint action committee in Akure, Ondo State, last Thursday and Friday.

Mohammed Ibrahim, the SSANU National President, conveyed the unions’ grievances to journalists, emphasizing that the action became imperative as the Federal Government had neglected to pay the withheld salary for four months, a consequence of their nationwide strike in 2022.

Despite the recent release of the withheld four months’ salary to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which was also on strike in 2022, SSANU and NASU were overlooked. The unions had earlier written protest letters to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, and the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, on February 13, 2024, highlighting the exclusion of non-teaching staff from the salary payment.

In their communiqué, the unions expressed their dissatisfaction with the discriminatory practice and considered it a violation of the post-strike agreement with the government, which pledged non-victimisation of members who participated in the strike.

The unions suspect sabotage within the government, viewing it as an attempt to destabilize the positive intentions of the President for sustaining industrial peace in the university system. The National Executive Council (NEC) of SSANU approved a one-week warning strike in conjunction with NASU if the government fails to implement the President’s directive promptly.

Additionally, the unions called on the government to expedite action on the renegotiation of the new national minimum wage, citing the hyperinflation currently affecting the country, rendering the current national minimum wage ineffective.