The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Sokoto State University branch, has defended its five-day warning strike, accusing the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. M.B. Yerima, of misrepresenting the circumstances that led to the industrial action.
The union said it embarked on the strike after several unsuccessful attempts to resolve disputes over unpaid entitlements and other welfare-related demands involving the university management and the Sokoto State Government.
The branch chairman, Ismail Bala Muhammad, stated this in a statement issued in Sokoto on Friday, responding to the Vice-Chancellor’s allegation that the union failed to follow due process before commencing the strike.
Muhammad explained that the union had initially submitted its grievances to the university management, prompting the Vice-Chancellor to set up a committee to investigate the complaints.
He said the committee examined the demands and subsequently forwarded the verified issues to the state government through the Ministry for Higher Education for further consideration.
According to him, several meetings were also held to resolve the disputes, but the engagements failed to produce the desired outcome.
The SSANU chairman said the union subsequently issued a 14-day ultimatum to the authorities after efforts to secure a resolution proved unsuccessful.
He maintained that the warning strike was a collective decision taken by members at a congress, insisting that it was neither politically motivated nor intended to undermine the university administration.
“The strike was not politically motivated. It was a decision taken by our members at a congress after several attempts to resolve the outstanding issues failed,” Muhammad said.
The union began the five-day warning strike on November 2, 2026, over unpaid entitlements and other welfare concerns.
Muhammad insisted that the union exhausted available channels of dialogue before resorting to industrial action, rejecting suggestions that it acted outside established procedures.
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