A crisis is looming at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), as members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) threatened to embark on an indefinite strike over alleged unpaid salaries and arrears.
The union said it would join the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which has been on strike since August over similar grievances, a development that has already halted academic activities on campus.
The Chairman of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) in AAUA, Comrade Olutayo Ogungbeni, who addressed journalists on Thursday, accused the Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa-led administration of failing to honour its June 2025 promise to clear salary arrears and increase subventions to state-owned universities.
Ogungbemi warned that ‘The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), AAUA, may commence industrial action if all outstanding salaries are not paid.
‘The last salary collected was in July, and now we are in October. Our members have been patient enough. We cannot continue to work without being paid.’
He lamented that the current subvention to the institution is ‘grossly inadequate,’ making it impossible to implement the 2024 National Minimum Wage for university workers.
Ogungbeni further accused the state government of neglecting the university, saying the institution had been starved of funds for years.
According to him, SSANU’s outstanding demands include the payment of 54 months’ arrears dating back to 2019, 18 months’ arrears of the 25% and 35% salary increment, two months’ arrears of the 2024 minimum wage, as well as promotion arrears for 2022, 2023, and 2024.
He also demanded the immediate release of the August and September 2025 salaries, insisting that workers can no longer survive under the burden of unpaid entitlements.
‘This government promised to intervene, but we are still battling with old arrears, unpaid increments, and withheld promotion benefits. Staff are losing hope, and we are now left with no choice but to prepare for a showdown,’ he said.
The union leader stressed that while ASUU’s strike had crippled lectures and research, the looming SSANU action would shut down the heart of the university system.
‘If SSANU withdraws its services, all administrative and support operations, from the bursary to the registry and from health to security, will be grounded. Nothing will function,’ he declared.
Efforts to get the state government’s reaction were unsuccessful, as calls and text messages sent to the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, went unanswered at the time of filing this report.