Memebers of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) have issued a strong warning to the Federal Government, threatening to embark on a total and comprehensive strike from Friday, May 1, 2026, if their demands remain unresolved.

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

SSANU Chairman of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) chapter, Razak Yusuf Ademola, while speaking during a media briefing, yesterday, called on the government to urgently address lingering welfare concerns and conclude ongoing renegotiations.

He said: “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 a 30 per cent increase in Consolidated Salary Structure that did not emanate from any agreement reached with us.”

He stressed that the union had exercised patience, giving the government sufficient time to respond, but lamented that no meaningful action had been taken.

Ademola outlined SSANU’s key demands to include the payment of wage award arrears, two months of withheld salaries, 35 per cent salary arrears, among others.

The union also rejected the recently announced 30 per cent salary increase for non-academic staff in federal tertiary institutions, saying that the issue had been communicated by Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, and regulatory bodies, including the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), and National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).

Ademola, however, criticised the decision, describing it as unilateral and lacking due consultation.

He further said that the move undermined ongoing negotiations and marginalised non-teaching staff.

Ademola said that the union is looking forward to a 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.