Academic and non-academic staff of higher education institutions in Nasarawa State, under the aegis of Joint Unions of Nasarawa State Tertiary Institutions (JUNSTI), will embark on an indefinite strike on Monday.
This was disclosed in a statement by the chairman of JUNSTI, Samson Kale Gbande, and his secretary, Paul Olotu, which was made available to journalists in Lafia, Nasarawa state.
According to the statement, the decision was due to the government’s failure to implement salary adjustments based on the new minimum wage of N70,500 and outstanding promotion allowances.
The strike will potentially disrupt academic activities in the affected institutions, namely Isa Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic, Lafia; College of Agriculture, Science & Technology, Lafia; and the College of Education, Akwanga.
The statement read, ‘Arising from the emergency meeting of the Joint Unions of Nasarawa State Tertiary Institutions (JUNSTI), held on 4th February 2025, the unions have resolved to embark on a two-week warning strike commencing from midnight on Sunday, 9th to Thursday, 27th February 2025’.
‘The strike action is necessitated as a result of the failure of Government to address union’s demands as stated in its letter of ultimatum dated 15th January, 2025 on critical pending issues’.
The union had issued a warning in January to the Nasarawa state government, specifically to Governor Abdullahi Sule, stating that it would embark on an industrial strike if the pressing issues affecting the institutions were not addressed.
The warning was conveyed in a letter dated 15 January and was preceded by several other letters sent to the government on 11, 20, and 29, November 2024.
The union revealed that all efforts to resolve the issue have proved futile as the government continued to ignore their demands.
Mr Gbande explained that the only remaining course of action is to go on strike because all other attempts to engage the government through dialogue have been unsuccessful.
