Tuesday, October 14, 2025 - The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has urged the Federal Government to resume negotiation of the 2009 FG/SSANU agreement.
In a communique issued at the end of its 52nd National
Executive Council (NEC meeting held at the Alvan Ikoku Federal University of
Education, Owerri, SSANU expressed its disappointment over the continued
silence and inaction of the Federal Government’s Renegotiation Committee
regarding the 2009 FG/SSANU Agreement.
Recall that the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of both SSANU
and NASU had given the Federal Government two weeks to resume negotiation or
face industrial unrest.
The union equally bemoaned the continued withholding of
salaries of SSANU members who participated in the 2022 industrial action. The
communique signed by its National President, Mohammed Ibrahim, urged the
Federal Government to immediately release the outstanding two months withheld
salaries as a demonstration of good faith and commitment to restoring
industrial harmony within the University system.
NEC also noted that third-party deductions from the already
paid two months of withheld salaries have yet to be remitted and therefore
called for the immediate release of funds.
NEC expressed deep concern over the Federal Government’s
persistent disregard for Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), Memoranda of Action
(MoAs), and other duly negotiated collective bargaining agreements entered with
SSANU.
The union insisted that such agreements, reached through
structured dialogue and mutual consent, are binding and must be honoured in
full, warning that if this pattern of neglect continues, it will have no choice
but to explore all lawful and appropriate avenues to compel compliance.
For the umpteenth time, SSANU frowned against the alleged
inequitable and negligible allocation of the N50 billion Earned Allowance,
wherein only 20 per cent, which amounts to N10 billion, was allotted to the
three non-teaching unions – SSANU, NASU and NAAT – as against the N50 billion
agreed in the signed MoU/MoA before the suspension of the 2022 industrial
action.
It said the allocation was unjust, discriminatory, and
failed to acknowledge the indispensable role non-teaching staff members play in
the effective functioning of Nigerian Universities.
It added that the disbursement was in breach of the MoU/MoA
signed with the JAC of NASU and SSANU in August 2022. Therefore, NEC called for
an immediate release of the balance of N40 billion Earned Allowance to reflect
principles of fairness, equity, and inclusiveness across all non-teaching staff
unions of universities and inter-university centres in line with the Memorandum
of Understanding and Memorandum of Action signed with the unions.
SSANU decried the parlous state of the education sector,
saying primary to tertiary levels suffer from inadequate funding and outdated
facilities. The meeting called for modernisation of learning environments,
stronger support for technical and vocational training, and equitable
development of both teaching and non-teaching staff through fair remuneration
and continuous professional development.
While commending the Federal Government for slowing the
proliferation of new public universities, NEC insisted that the government must
urgently meet and implement global best practices in education by funding the
sector adequately.
It stressed that to reposition Nigeria’s universities for
excellence and long-term sustainability, it admonished the federal and state
governments to grant full autonomy to university governing councils to reduce
political interference and enable decisions that best serve the staff and
students of the universities.
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