Adedokun Waliyu 
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) have suspended their nearly five-month strike.
According to Channels Television, the unions suspended the strike on Saturday after meeting with Adamu Adamu, the minister of education, in Abuja.
It is understood that the suspension is expected to take effect from Wednesday.
Speaking during the meeting, Adamu said the federal government has committed N50 billion to pay earned allowances for members of both unions as well as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
SSANU and NASU had on March 27 declared a two-week warning strike.
By April 10, the unions extended the strike by another two weeks, citing the government’s failure to meet their demands.
In June, the unions further extended the strike by two months.
The development comes amid the ongoing strike by ASUU.
ASUU has been on strike since February 14 over the federal government’s failure to meet its demands bordering on the funding of universities as well as salaries and allowances of lecturers.
As of Saturday, the strike clocked 187 days – a development that has left students, parents, and other stakeholders frustrated.
Adamu had earlier asked the affected students to sue ASUU and demand compensation over the strike.
“Who do you assume will compensate students? The federal government? Probably you should take the leaders of strike unions to court to pay them, probably the court will award damages and then, we’ll see how they pay” he had said.
