This is due to their subsisting one-week warning strike which they commenced on Monday to demand better welfare packages from the Nigerian government. 

The non-teaching staff members of Nigerian public universities under the aegis of the Senior Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) have stopped the rendering of their services to the students in various campuses nationwide. 

This is due to their subsisting one-week warning strike which they commenced on Monday to demand better welfare packages from the Nigerian government. 

The two unions berated the Federal Government for paying withheld salaries to the Academic Staff Union of Universities  (ASUU) while neglecting the non-academic unions.

Public institutions across the country reported that nothing moved administratively within any public university in Nigeria, as hostels and varsity gates were sealed and electricity was turned off.

It was learnt that the unions shut down hostels, power supply, security, and administrative functions in universities across the country

Reacting to this strike, the Nigerian government said that the withdrawal of these services in public universities is contrary to the provisions of section 18 of the Trade Dispute Act and a total disregard for the Federal Government’s concerted efforts to address their concerns.

A statement from the office of minister of labour said,  “The minister has always maintained that strike does not serve any useful purpose and should only be resorted to as a last option after exhausting every conciliation effort.

“She appeals to the SSANU and NASU to step back from their hard-line stance and meet the federal government at the table for conciliation.” 

Recall that the vice president of the association, Dr Abdussobuur Salaam disclosed the intention of the union to embark on a warning strike during a telephone conversation with SaharaReporters last Monday.

Salaam revealed that the decision to embark on the strike was taken after a resolution at the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting which was held two weeks ago.

He said, “We have declared a seven-day warning strike effective from the 18th of March, which is next Monday pending due process within the rank of the union and also pending discussion with our sister union, NASU.

“But as far as SSANU is concerned, the National Executive Council (NEC) on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday had resolved that as a union, we will be embarking on a week-long warning strike to press home our demands which had been abandoned by the government since 2022.”