Academic activities at the University of Jos (UNIJOS) ground to a halt on Wednesday after lecturers embarked on an indefinite strike over the non-payment of their March 2026 salaries, with their union placing the blame squarely on the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), UNIJOS branch, declared the industrial action effective Wednesday, April 8, 2026, in compliance with resolutions of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) and a branch congress. In a statement circulated to members, the union directed all academic staff to abstain from lectures, the conduct of examinations, and statutory meetings until their March salaries are paid. “After following due process, we hereby request all members to abstain from lectures, the conduct of exams, and statutory meetings, as our salary for the month of March 2026 is yet to be paid despite our patience,” the statement read.
Professor Jurbe Molwus, Chairman of the ASUU UNIJOS branch, confirmed the development in an interview with The Punch on Wednesday. “We are on strike, and we are not going to work until we are paid,” Molwus stated.
The union was unequivocal in identifying the source of the delay, absolving the university’s own financial administration of blame. “From our consultation, the delay is occasioned by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, as the bursary of the university has done its part,” ASUU said in its statement.
This points to a systemic bottleneck at the federal level, one that has repeatedly disrupted academic calendars across Nigerian public universities. The union warned that members’ patience was being taken for granted, and confirmed that a strike monitoring team had been activated to enforce adherence to the directive. The strike will remain in force until salaries are released.
The UNIJOS strike is the latest in a series of salary-related industrial actions affecting Nigerian public universities in 2026. In March, the ASUU chapter at the University of Lagos declared an indefinite strike over what it described as “amputated” salaries for January and February 2026, after lecturers did not receive their Earned Academic Allowances and Consolidated Academic Tools Allowances.
The ASUU branch at Taraba State University also resumed an indefinite strike earlier in the year, citing unresolved issues including unpaid salary arrears, a non-functional pension scheme for university workers, and failure by the Federal Government to implement a 2025 renegotiated agreement with the union.
The broader context involves a renegotiated agreement signed in December 2025. ASUU National President Prof. Christopher Piwuna, himself a consultant psychiatrist at the UNIJOS Teaching Hospital, disclosed that the deal included a 40 percent upward review of academic staff emoluments under the Consolidated University Academic Staff Salary structure, along with mainstreamed Earned Academic Allowances. However, full implementation across federal universities has remained inconsistent.
Piwuna had also warned in a recent interview that ASUU was raising an alarm over the government’s 2026 budget delays, noting that politicians appeared more focused on party primaries and the 2027 elections than on funding obligations to public universities.
With the strike taking immediate effect, students at UNIJOS face significant disruption to their academic calendar, including the suspension of ongoing lectures and examinations. The union has given no timeline for calling off the action, making a swift resolution by the federal authorities critical to preventing a prolonged shutdown.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the university management nor the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation had issued a public response to the strike.