BY GODWIN IJEDIOGOR
THE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), on Sunday, October 12, declared a two-week total and comprehensive warning strike across all public (federal and state) universities in Nigeria.
The announcement, who was made by ASUU’s National President, Professor Chris Piwuna, at a press conference at the University of Abuja, said the action will be total and comprehensive.
Piwuna said there has been no meaningful progress to prevent the union from moving forward with its planned industrial action, noting He explained that the 14-day notice, issued on September 28, 2025, had lapsed without any substantial response from the relevant authorities.
He stated: “Compatriots of the press, it goes without saying that there is nothing sufficient on ground to stop the implementation of the ASUU-NEC’s resolution to embark on a two-week warning strike at the expiry of the 14-day notice given on September 28, 2025.
“Consequently, all branches of ASUU are hereby directed to withdraw their services with effect from midnight on Monday, October 13, 2025.
“The warning strike shall be total and comprehensive, as agreed at the last NEC meeting.”
Recall that disagreements remained unresolved between the university lecturers and Federal Government, despite ongoing negotiations to avert the stike.
In its notice after a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, recently, the union decried the neglect of the university system and the government’s consistent refusal to heed to its demands.
It said: “Apart from engagement with the press, in August 2025, members of ASUU in both federal and state universities held rallies, carrying placards, on their campuses, to press the government to address the lingering issues in the university system.
“Nothing came out of all these rallies and pleas. What is clear for now is that both the federal and state governments have a strong habit of paying little or no attention to the education sector in general and the welfare of university academics in particular.”
Last Wednesday, October 7, the Federal Government appealled to ASUU to shelve the planned strike, assuring that it was committed to addressing all outstanding demands raised by the union.
Addressing a news conference in Abuja, Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said the Federal Government was already looking into the union’s demands and progress was already being made in ongoing negotiations between both parties.
Alausa explained that the Mahmud Yayale Ahmed Federal Government Tertiary Institutions Expanded Negotiation Committee had been reconstituted and inaugurated to fast-track talks with both academic and non-academic unions in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
He added that President Bola Tinubu had given clear directives that all efforts must be made to avoid another disruption in the country’s tertiary institutions.
ASUU, in its response on Thursday, said the appeal “came a little too late,” blaming the government for its slow response to their demands and lamenting that it waited until just two working days before the strike to make the appeal.
Piwuna said on a television programme: “The problem we have with this government and this Ministry of Education is that they are slow in responding to our demands
“We went for a meeting in Sokoto, and at that time we were about to embark on a strike action. They gave us three weeks, we accepted the three weeks, but we never heard a word from them until the three weeks elapsed, not a word from them…”
He called on the Federal Government to expedite the resolution of lingering issues affecting university lecturers.
While commending the minister for facilitating the release of N50billion as part of the Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) owed to its members, Piwuna stated: “I commend Alausa for fighting within government circles to ensure that the money comes out. We’ve seen his personal effort to get that done.”
He, however, clarified that the N50billion payment only addressed a small portion of ASUU’s claims, noting: “The full amount owed in earned academic allowances stands at about N103 billion.
“We had agreed with the government, under Dr. Ngige, to forfeit 50 per cent, provided the remaining 50 per cent would be paid and mainstreamed into our salaries. But even that payment was delayed until recently.”
The ASUU president explained that government deducted 20 per cent from ASUU’s N50billion share to settle other campus unions, such as the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), a decision ASUU accepted in good faith.
“We did not argue over it. We’ve continued to make sacrifices. Alausa himself has acknowledged and appreciated us for that sacrifice.”
He stressed that while the union recognised efforts made by the current administration, Nigerians must understand that ASUU, too, has made significant concessions in the national interest, adding: “When people say Tinubu or Alausa has done something, yes, we’re not disputing that. But we too have made great sacrifices.”
Piwuna said ASUU’s NEC held an emergency meeting to deliberate on a letter from Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, who chairs the Federal Government’s team handling the union’s unresolved issues.
He recalled: “The letter from was considered by our union as a delay tactic by the government. They had asked for two weeks about two weeks ago, and in the new letter, they are asking for another three weeks to get back to us. NEC considered that as an attempt at delaying the resolution of this crisis.”
He stressed that all ASUU branches were represented at the NEC meeting, with over 70 chartered chapters in attendance, noting: “We all met and looked at the state of our struggle, where we are and what next steps to take.”
Piwuna lamented that despite several meetings and promises, the Federal Government had yet to address key issues, including unpaid salary arrears, earned academic allowances and the withheld salaries from the union’s 2022 industrial action.
He said: “We’re still being owed 12 months of the 25 to 35 per cent salary increase awarded by this current government. We also have three and a half months of salary that was withheld from the 2022 action.
“We think that that action by government to withhold our salary is punitive,” he said.
Regarding the ‘no work, no pay’ policy, Piwuna said the industrial court’s ruling on the matter was inconclusive, adding: “The court said it was okay if government paid us our salaries, and it was also okay if they decided not to pay.
“Basically, it was left to the government’s discretion.”
He had alerted then that ASUU’s patience was wearing thin, warning that unless genuine progress was made, the union would have no choice but to proceed with its planned warning strike.
