Senior non-teaching staff at Sokoto State University (SSU) began a five-working-day warning strike on Monday, November 2, 2026, after a 14-working-day ultimatum they gave the Sokoto State Government expired without the action they wanted. The SSU branch of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) says that if its demands are still unmet when the warning strike ends, it may move to a total and indefinite shutdown of services.
Counting five working days from Monday puts the end of the warning strike on Friday, November 6. Students now have the rest of this week to watch whether the state government responds, because the union has tied its next step directly to what happens before that date. When we checked the university’s website on Tuesday, it carried no notice about the strike or about changes to lectures, so students should follow announcements from their faculties and the university’s official channels.
Four demands, and one the government has already refused
The statement announcing the strike, signed by branch chairman Ismail Bala Muhammed and secretary Mansur Ahmad, lists four demands. The union wants the arrears from a 25 per cent salary increment paid, the approval and immediate implementation of a 35 per cent Consolidated Non-Teaching Tools Allowance (CONTTA), annual salary increments for all eligible members, and the release of check-off dues it says were withheld from the union.
According to the union, the government set out its position at an October 9 meeting. It said the 25 per cent increment arrears would not be paid, that CONTTA would start in January 2027 subject to budget provision, and that annual increments had already been implemented. SSANU rejected that position, arguing that similar allowances had been approved for academic staff under ASUU and for workers in other state-owned tertiary institutions, which it described as “unequal and discriminatory treatment”.
A month of meetings that ended in a walkout
The dispute goes back to July 28, when the union submitted a combined list of old and new demands. After the October 9 meeting, an emergency congress on October 13 approved the ultimatum and the warning strike, and the ultimatum was issued on October 14. The union says it held back its press release after the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Higher Education asked it to resubmit its demands in categories, and it sent a reminder on October 22. By its account, the ultimatum ran out on October 31 with “no concrete action” on its members’ demands.
The government had earlier set up a committee to engage unions at SSU and at Shehu Shagari University of Education, Sokoto. SSANU has now appealed to Governor Ahmed Aliyu to step in personally, and it has asked traditional rulers, parents and students to help push for a settlement, while saying it “remains open to genuine dialogue”.
Why Friday matters for SSU students
SSANU’s members are the university’s senior non-teaching staff, so this is a different union from the lecturers’ ASUU, and its statement doesn’t spell out which offices or services have stopped. No response from the university management or the Sokoto State Government to the strike itself had been published when we checked. Disputes like this have ended quickly elsewhere, as when SSANU suspended its national strike threat after arrears were paid, and they have also dragged on, as the indefinite strike at LAUTECH shows.
If you’re an SSU student with registration, clearance or results to sort out this week, confirm with your department whether the office you need is open before travelling to campus. Keep an eye on Friday, November 6, since that’s when SSANU will decide whether the warning strike ends or becomes an indefinite shutdown.
Join the conversation