In order to mobilize members for protest activities, both unions, acting under the Joint Action Committee, have instructed all of their branches to convene joint emergency meetings on Wednesday.
These will consist of press conferences, placard displays, and campus marches.
After multiple ultimatums had passed without a resolution, JAC held a meeting on October 6 to evaluate government activities in detail.
Delays in renegotiating the 2009 FGN/NASU/SSANU agreements, the nonpayment of two months’ worth of unpaid salaries, the arrears of 25 and 35 percent salary increments, the alleged unfair distribution of the N50 billion earned allowances, and the failure to remit third-party deductions for May and June 2022 are some of the controversial issues.
On September 15, JAC gave the government a seven-day ultimatum. On Monday, October 6, it was extended by a further fourteen days.
All members were instructed to participate fully in the unions’ October 6 circular, “Commencement of Protest Actions,” which was signed by SSANU National President Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim and NASU General Secretary Prince Peters Adeyemi.
Part of the memo stated: “The Honourable Minister of Education established the Joint Consultative Committee to investigate the demands of the JAC of NASU & SSANU. The committee met twice, on Friday, September 19, 2025, and Monday, October 6, 2025, but made little headway because our demands have not been addressed even after the ultimatum was extended.
The National JAC hereby instructs branch leadership in universities and inter-university centers across the country to hold a joint congress on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, in order to mobilize for a large-scale and successful one-day demonstration on Thursday, October 9, 2025, in light of this development.
It also emphasized that cooperation and adherence were crucial for success, adding that all members in both federal and state-owned universities “are expected to strictly comply with this directive.”
Mohammed Ibrahim, the president of SSANU, recently charged the government with being dishonest and threatened to call an indefinite strike if the unions’ demands were not met.
“Ours will be the grandfather of all strikes, not the’mother of all strikes,'” Ibrahim stated. “You are aware of what happens when SSANU or NASU strikes. We have to take control of our own destiny.
He bemoaned the low well-being of university non-academic employees, calling them “the worst hit financially, economically, and psychologically.”
Both SSANU and NASU have been at odds with the federal government over staff welfare and funding issues, much like the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
