Non-academic staff across Nigerian public universities are set to down tools from midnight on Thursday (12:00 a.m. on 1st May), threatening to halt administrative and technical operations at the institutions.
The action follows years of tension over the 2009 Federal Government agreement with university-based unions. While academic staff under the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) concluded renegotiation of their own deal last December, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) say talks for non-teaching staff have dragged on without resolution.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of SSANU and NASU announced the strike in a notice dated 30th April. The notice was jointly signed by NASU General Secretary, Mr. Peters Adeyemi, and SSANU President, Mr. Mohammad Ibrahim.
JAC said the decision followed what it described as the federal government’s slow pace in renegotiating the 2009 agreement with non-academic staff. The move came just a day after union leaders met a federal government team led by the Minister of Education, Mr. Tunji Alausa, to discuss the stalled renegotiation.
The unions acknowledged that some agreements were reached at the meeting, but said they fell short of members’ expectations.
“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 reads 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.”
If enforced, the strike will affect registries, bursaries, laboratories, libraries, and other essential services run by non-academic staff, compounding disruptions already familiar in Nigeria’s university system.
