The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) have initiated a nationwide strike, citing grievances regarding what they perceive as unfair treatment and discrepancies in salary payments by the Federal Government.

SSANU President, Mohammed Ibrahim, confirmed the commencement of the strike during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief program on Monday. He emphasized that workers across various administrative departments in public universities had withdrawn their services, bringing academic operations to a standstill.

According to Ibrahim, the strike was triggered by the government’s failure to address long-standing issues of withheld salaries and disparities in payment among university staff. He expressed frustration over the lack of official communication from government representatives, highlighting concerns about saboteurs hindering efforts to resolve the matter.

Despite previous warnings and a seven-day notice issued to the government, Ibrahim lamented the absence of engagement from Labour Minister Nkiruka Onyejeocha. He warned that should the government continue to disregard their demands, SSANU and NASU would explore further action beyond the initial seven-day strike period.

Last week, SSANU and NASU had threatened to disrupt university operations, including shutting down hostels and power supply, if their demands were not met by March 18, 2024. Ibrahim underscored the broad impact of such actions, affecting not only students but also essential services within the university environment.

The unions’ discontent stems from the perceived preferential treatment given to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), with ASUU members reportedly receiving withheld salaries while SSANU and NASU members remained unpaid. This disparity has reignited frustrations following an eight-month strike in 2022, during which the government imposed a ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy against the unions.

Ibrahim criticized the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) office for its handling of salary payments, accusing them of disregarding presidential directives to remit payments to all unions involved in the 2022 industrial action.