THE JOINT Action Committee (JAC) of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has instructed its members to begin an indefinite strike starting May 1.
The directive was issued in a strike notice dated April 30, jointly signed by NASU General Secretary, Comrade Peters Adeyemi, and SSANU President, Comrade Mohammad Ibrahim.
According to the unions, the action is a response to the Federal Government’s sluggish progress in renegotiating the 2009 agreement with non-academic staff, particularly as a similar process with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has already been concluded.
The renegotiation with ASUU was finalised with an agreement signed last December.
The unions’ leadership announced the strike a day after meeting with the Federal Government delegation led by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, to discuss the renegotiation.
The statement noted that while some agreements were reached during the meeting, these were insufficient to halt the strike.
“Given the mandate of members that only the full approval of our demands would be acceptable, the leadership, after due consultation, resolved to stand by that mandate,” the statement read in part. “In view of this, we hereby direct our members to commence total and comprehensive strike action in all our universities and Inter-University Centres campuses from 12:00 a.m. of 1st May, 2026.”
During Wednesday’s meeting, JAC demanded that the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement be completed by April 30, warning that failure to do so would result in industrial action.
Last month, SSANU had issued an ultimatum for the government to finalise the negotiation by the end of April during its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti.
The union also informed members that the government had withdrawn the proposed 30 per cent salary increment for staff without offering any alternative or fresh commitment.
Additionally, no timeline has been provided for concluding the renegotiation process, a key concern for the striking unions.
According to the statement, officials present at the meeting included the Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Ahmad; the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Abel Enitan; the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abdullahi Ribadu; and the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Angela Ajala.
It could be recalled that in 2009, the Federal Government signed an agreement with several public university workers’ unions, including ASUU, SSANU, and NASU.
The agreement, which covers workers’ pay and conditions of service, was intended to be renegotiated every three years but has remained unreviewed for many years, leading to repeated industrial actions across public universities.
In December, the government concluded renegotiation with ASUU after the sixth renegotiation committee, established in October, completed the harmonisation process.
However, non-academic staff unions have consistently accused the government of treating them less favourably than their academic counterparts during negotiations.
For instance, although the committee negotiating with both academic and non-academic staff was inaugurated in October, four months after the agreement with ASUU was reached and signed, the negotiation with SSANU and NASU remains unresolved.
