ABUJA, Nigeria – The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Allied Institutions (NASU) at the University of Abuja have begun protests over the government’s failure to release four months of withheld salaries for their members.
The workers, who participated in an eight-month nationwide strike last year, are outraged that only their academic counterparts have received a partial payout of the withheld wages.
“This is most vexatious and provoking considering the fact that the same presidential directive was selectively implemented to the advantage of our teaching counterpart- the academics,” said Nurudeen Yusuf, the SSANU chapter president, in a statement to the press.
The Nigerian government had initially withheld salaries for both academic and non-academic staff who took part in the 2022 industrial action that crippled universities across the country. In October, President Bola Tinubu ordered the payment of four out of the eight months’ withheld salaries, but only for academic staff.
This development has caused a renewed rift between the non-teaching unions and the government. SSANU and NASU have strongly condemned the “selective payments” and demanded to be included in the partial salary payout.
“Today’s protest signals the beginning of a series of union actions which will culminate in the total shutdown of all universities in Nigeria,” Yusuf warned. The unions are calling on the Ministers of Education and Labor to intervene and prevent further disruption to the academic calendar.
