The federal government has approved a 30% increase in the consolidated salary structure of members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), including non-academic staff across universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in a bid to defuse long-running labour disputes and stabilise the tertiary education sector.
The decision, conveyed in a letter signed by the education minister, Tunji Alausa, forms part of a broader effort by the administration of Bola Tinubu to address pay disparities and unrest within higher institutions. It follows an earlier 40% salary increase granted to members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
Under the new arrangement, the increment will be implemented as a Consolidated Non-Teaching Tools Allowance, with directives issued to key regulatory bodies including the National Universities Commission, National Board for Technical Education and the National Commission for Colleges of Education to oversee rollout.
Alausa said the policy underscored the government’s commitment to improving the welfare and productivity of non-academic staff, whose administrative and technical roles underpin the functioning of higher institutions. He added that the measure was intended to strengthen the “quality, stability and global competitiveness” of Nigeria’s education system.
But the announcement has done little to calm tensions. The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities insists no final agreement has been reached and has issued a fresh ultimatum, warning of an indefinite strike if negotiations are not concluded by the end of April.
In a communiqué issued after a special meeting of its national executive council in Abuja, SSANU said it would reject any outcome that falls short of earlier negotiated terms, stressing that “fairness, due process and collective bargaining principles must be respected”.
The union, alongside the Non-Academic Staff Union under their joint action committee, has given the government until 30 April to finalise talks, failing which it says it will embark on “an indefinite, comprehensive, and total industrial action”.
The standoff highlights the fragile state of labour relations in Nigeria’s tertiary sector, where repeated strikes by non-academic unions have disrupted campus administration, delayed examinations and strained institutional governance.
While authorities have begun directing institutions to prepare for implementation, including instructions from the colleges of education commission to provosts and bursars, the threat of renewed industrial action suggests the pay rise may yet fall short of resolving deeper grievances over funding, allowances and working conditions.
For many within the system, the latest intervention risks becoming another temporary fix in a sector long plagued by cyclical disputes and uneven reforms.
