By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Ondo State-owned tertiary institutions has issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa-led government over the alleged poor conditions of the schools, particularly failure to implement the national minimum wage in the institutions.
The committee, which comprises members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union ((NASU), National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP), highlighted several complaints to include the alleged failure to pay their accumulated arrears and gratuities of retires and six months outstanding salary.
In a statement yesterday in Akure, the state capital, by its Chairman, Olutayo Ogungbeni, and Secretary, Kunle Akinwonmi, JAC, which comprises members in the state’s four tertiary institutions of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko; Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa; University of Medical Sciences, Ondo; and Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, threatened to shut down the institutions, if the government failed to pay.
“Having realised that the state government is playing politics with our lives and the lives of our children in all the state-owned institutions as well as tertiary education sector in Ondo State, we have no other alternative than to direct our members to embark on a 14-day warning strIke (at first instance) with effect from midnight of Thursday, 19th June, 2025.
“Kindly note that the 14-day warning strike shall be total, hence, no concession is given to any of our members to perform any official duties during the period of this warning strike and any of our members found in their offices during this warning strike shall be seen as saboteurs and shall be treated as such,” the statement read.
Recall that JAC had issued a similar ultimatum on June 2, where it gave a seven-day ultimatum to the government to meet the demands for workers in the state owned higher institutions.
“We have written several letters to the state government, and we met with Mr. Governor on 1st May, 2025, where promises were made to resolve all our demands, but nothing has been done to put a smile on our faces as promised by Mr. Governor.
“We hereby appeal to all the stakeholders in Ondo State, especially the political leaders, traditional rulers and religious leaders to kindly intervene in this issue before it snowballs into total shutdown of academic activities in all the institutions in Ondo State,’’ it said.
Spokesperson for Governor Aiyedatiwa, Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan, said the government through the office of the Head of Service is looking into the agitations of the workers.
“Although their problem seems to be internal. If they’re agitating for the new minimum wage, the government has been on top of it, and it’s been addressed with the office of State Head of Service.
“Also, I know the governor has increased the subventions coming to the various institutions twice aside from the Internally General Revenue (IGR) the various schools are making,” Adeniyan said.