The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) along with the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) have given the government a seven-day ultimatum to address unresolved issues impacting non-academic university staff.
In a letter dated September 12, 2025, the two unions criticized the "unjust" distribution of earned allowances to university staff, as well as the failure to pay outstanding allowances and other unresolved issues.
The letter, signed by Muhammed Ibrahim, president of SSANU, and Peters Adeyemi, general secretary of NASU, reminded the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa about a June 18th letter from JAC (Joint Action Committee) representing both NASU and SSANU.
The letter emphasized the critical necessity for action on unresolved labor issues impacting their members.
The union reported that this letter led the Minister to schedule a meeting with the JAC of NASU and SSANU on July 4, 2025, in order to tackle the raised issues.
To clarify, the letter addressed concerns about: the unfair distribution of N50 billion in earned allowances; unpaid withheld salaries and 25/35% salary increases; and renegotiation of the 2009 agreements between FGN and NASU/SSANU," according to the statement.
The unions announced they must issue a formal seven-day notice starting Monday, September 15, 2025. This is to prompt the Federal Government to address their concerns; otherwise, members plan to initiate various lawful industrial actions, including strikes, to emphasize their demands.
The statement noted, "The Honourable Minister might remember that during the meeting on July 4th, 2025 to discuss the aforementioned issues, there was a resolution to establish a Tripartite Committee. This committee would include representatives from the Federal Ministry of Education, National Universities Commission, and JAC of NASU and SSANU. Its purpose is to address the deadlock caused by an inequitable distribution of N50 Billion in Earned Allowances—where university members were shortchanged and those at Inter-University Centres were entirely excluded."
At the meeting on July 4th, 2025, no resolution was reached regarding the payment of two months’ outstanding withheld salaries owed to our members. However, you committed to initiating measures to accelerate the payment process for arrears related to a 25/35% salary increment also due to our members.
Following the July 4th, 2025 meeting, a reminder letter was sent on August 18th, 2025. This correspondence was necessary due to your office's lack of response or intentional decision not to address issues affecting non-teaching staff in our universities and inter-university centers.
It is important to highlight that the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN and NASU/SSANU Agreements is facing delays. The Renegotiation Committee led by Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, which was inaugurated on October 15th, 2024, to review these agreements with university-based unions, only held its inaugural meeting with JAC of NASU and SSANU on December 10th, 2024. Since that initial meeting, the Federal Government Team has remained unresponsive toward engaging further with Non-Teaching Staff Unions. Meanwhile, we have received information indicating that this same team has completed negotiations with our colleagues from the Academic Staff Union in higher education sectors and are close to finalizing an agreement. Despite us fulfilling all necessary requirements including re-submitting our Memoranda of Demands, the Federal Government Team continues not only ignoring but also marginalizing our needs.”
We highlighted this issue at our July 4th, 2025 meeting where you assured us of your intervention to prompt the Committee into swift action. Unfortunately, we have not yet observed any progress.
Despite our repeated attempts to bring your attention to the issues impacting our members at universities and inter-university centers, there seems to be no positive response from your office.
Due to ongoing unresolved issues and the Government's apparent lack of responsiveness to our legitimate concerns, we are obligated to issue a formal notice. Starting on Monday, September 15th, 2025, there will be a seven-day period for addressing our grievances. If these matters remain unaddressed within this timeframe, members of NASU and SSANU will initiate lawful industrial actions such as strikes to advocate for our demands.
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