Dare Babalola
The Nasarawa State Government has made a fresh appeal to lecturers in state-owned tertiary institutions to suspend their ongoing strike action, in a bid to revive negotiations aimed at resolving the ongoing impasse.
Lecturers in Nasarawa State embarked on an indefinite strike on December 29, 2025, citing the state government’s failure to fully implement the New National Minimum Wage, a decision reached by the Joint Unions of Nasarawa State Tertiary Institutions (JUNSTI).
Speaking during a bi-monthly press briefing in Lafia on Friday, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Abdullahi Sule on Public Affairs urged the lecturers to reconsider their action in the interest of students and the education sector.
“We are already in January, and schools are expected to resume academic activities, yet we are faced with this strike. This situation is capable of affecting our children,” he said.
He added that suspending the strike would allow the government to return to the negotiation table and address the lecturers’ demands. “I want to appeal to them to suspend the strike and allow room for further negotiations,” he said.
The strike was announced by the Chairman of JUNSTI, Samson Kale Gbande, following a meeting with union leaders from three state-owned institutions — Isa Mustapha Agwai I Polytechnic, Lafia; College of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Lafia; and the College of Education, Akwanga.
Gbande said the decision to embark on the strike followed the government’s inability to honour agreements reached after several meetings on the implementation of the minimum wage. He expressed concern over delays in adjusting the salary structure, noting that failure to implement agreed decisions affects workers’ morale, productivity, and stability in the education sector.
According to him, the union had engaged the state government several times on the issue through meetings held at the office of the Deputy Governor on August 6, October 23, December 3, and December 15, 2025, during which assurances were given that implementation of the New National Minimum Wage would commence in November 2025.
“Regrettably, despite the union’s patience for over a year, these assurances have not translated into action,” Gbande said.
