Inconclusive negotiation: SSANU threatens to shut down universities Friday

By Adesina Wahab

Members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, have threatened to embark on an indefinite strike on Friday, May 1, 2026, if the federal government fails to conclude its negotiation with the union.

This is just as the union has frowned at a situation where the government treats them as second-class workers in the university system.

Briefing newsmen after a congress of the union at the University of Lagos on Tuesday, the UNILAG Chapter Chairman, Dr Yusuf Ademola, said SSANU had given the federal government enough time and opportunity to address the demands of members.

“We have tried everything possible to make the federal government do the needful and accede to our demands. We have been on the matter for a very long time. Instead of doing the needful, the government came up with 30 percent increase in consolidated salary structure that did not emanate from any agreement reached with us. Anyway, we have outrightly rejected that,” he said.

“What we are asking the government to do is the payment of the arrears of our wage awards, the payment of our two months withheld salaries, the payment of our 35 percent salary arrears, the payment of our earned allowances and improved funding of our universities.

“Some people may wonder why we rejected the 30 percent increase in consolidated salary structure; it was done like a kind of fiat by the government. It didn’t emanate from a concluded negotiation and engagement between SSANU and the federal government. It was not discussed, agreed or endorsed by the leadership of SSANU. It was an arbitrary thing imposed on us without transparency and justification.

“It was rejected because it seems to stampede the ongoing renegotiation process and it was also rejected because it treats non-teaching staff as if our welfare can be decided without our input. As if we are second-class citizens in the university system.”

When asked if the government team is expected to meet with the union on Wednesday, Ademola said they look forward to the meeting, but that if it fails to end in any acceptable manner, there would be no option other than to go ahead with an indefinite strike as from Friday.

He appealed to the government to toe the line of harmony by acceding to their demands.

The SSANU leader wondered why the federal government had met the demands of the teaching staff and abandoned non-teaching ones as if they didn’t matter.