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Following a period of calm in the Nigerian public university system, members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have declared a two-week warning strike, accusing the Federal Government of failing to meet their long-standing demands, despite efforts by government officials to prevent the action.
The warning strike, which began at midnight on Sunday, was announced by the National President of ASUU, Professor Chris Piwuna, during a press briefing in Abuja. However, another academic union in the university system, the Congress of University Academics (CONUA), stated that its members would continue working as they saw no justification for joining the strike.
It was gathered that, after learning about ASUU’s decision to embark on the warning strike, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, and the Minister of Labour, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, immediately summoned a meeting with ASUU officials. However, reports indicate that the union remained unresponsive on Sunday night.
Declaring the union’s position, Professor Piwuna said the strike became necessary as the Federal Government had failed to address their demands after a 14-day ultimatum expired.
Meanwhile, the National President of CONUA, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, stated in an interview that his union had no dispute with the government and therefore saw no need for industrial action.
ASUU President Piwuna, however, warned that if the government failed to respond after the two-week warning strike, the union would embark on a total and indefinite strike.
Professor Piwuna said: “It is regrettable to note that nothing significant has happened since our last briefing on the eight issues in dispute.”
He outlined the unresolved matters to include the conclusion and signing of the renegotiated 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement, payment of withheld three-and-a-half months’ salaries, sustainable funding and revitalisation of public universities, and an end to the victimisation of lecturers in LASU, KSU (now Prince Abubakar Audu University), FUTO, and other institutions.
Professor Piwuna added that despite several appeals and assurances from government officials, including a letter dated September 30, 2025, from the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, no meaningful progress had been made.
He further revealed that the outcome of an emergency meeting of the FGN/ASUU 2009 Agreement Renegotiation Committee held on October 10 was disappointing, describing the documents presented by the government as “provocative and inconsistent” with previous drafts.
“The hurriedly packaged documents were a total departure from the spirit of the Nimi Briggs-led renegotiated agreement and incapable of dousing industrial tension across campuses,” Professor Piwuna said.
“ASUU’s National Executive Council, NEC, has directed all its branches nationwide to withdraw their services effective 12:01 a.m. Monday, October 13, 2025,” he insisted.
However, the National President of CONUA, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, stated that his union had no issue with the Federal Government to justify declaring a trade dispute.
He explained that ASUU’s strike could ultimately be counterproductive, saying: “We held congresses across our branches nationwide recently, and it was the decision of the members that there is nothing to declare a trade dispute for.”
“We also held a meeting with the government team, which included the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, on September 11, 2025.
“We just want the vice chancellors of various universities and the federal government to respect our decision and take note that CONUA members nationwide are not on strike and we have not declared any,” he stated.
Commenting on the situation, the National Public Relations Officer of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Adeyemi Samson Ajasa, described the steps taken by the association to prevent the strike.
“The current National President of NANS is from the University of Jos, just like the current National President of ASUU. We tried to exploit that. We also met with the Minister of Education on the matter,” he said.
Ajasa called for a quick resolution of the dispute.
Meanwhile, just hours after the Federal Government renewed its commitment to addressing all outstanding issues with ASUU through dialogue, the union stunned officials by declaring a nationwide strike, an action that government insiders have described as deliberate sabotage.
According to reliable sources, following a key meeting held on Friday, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, and the government’s negotiating team acknowledged ASUU’s concerns over welfare, working conditions, and other issues, and promptly conveyed them to the President, who had already given positive indications of approval.
However, credible reports suggested that a communication breakdown occurred—not from the government’s side but from ASUU’s.
After the Friday session, Senator Lekan Tejuoso, Deputy Chairman of the Federal Government’s Negotiating Team representing the expanded re-negotiation panel, began reaching out to ASUU’s leadership to arrange an urgent meeting to prevent the strike.
Senator Tejuoso, a former legislator and university pro-chancellor, was acting on behalf of Dr Yayale Ahmed, head of the 53-member re-negotiation committee set up to review the 2009 FG–ASUU agreement, who was out of town.
Government sources said the committee had already prepared updated proposals addressing the lecturers’ key concerns, including salary adjustments, university funding, and outstanding allowances.
The government team reportedly awaited ASUU’s official response, but the union allegedly declined requests for a face-to-face dialogue, stating that their negotiators had travelled.
Senator Tejuoso reportedly called ASUU President, Professor Chris Piwuna, proposing a Sunday meeting as a compromise.
However, multiple calls made to Professor Piwuna from Friday night to Saturday were said to have gone unanswered until ASUU announced the commencement of the strike.
According to a senior government official familiar with the situation, “the government had shown good faith. The President gave the go-ahead, the minister acted swiftly, and the negotiating panel was on standby. But ASUU simply shut the door on dialogue.”
Government insiders claimed that the strike had been pre-planned rather than prompted by a negotiation breakdown, accusing ASUU of bad faith and deliberate sabotage.
“They refused a physical meeting, ignored the mediator’s calls, and went ahead to announce a strike while negotiation lines were still open,” one top official said.
Officials from the Ministry of Education argued that the action undermined the goodwill demonstrated by President Tinubu, who had only recently approved the reconstitution of the expanded negotiating panel to fast-track solutions to long-standing issues affecting university staff.
Observers stated that ASUU’s action disrupted ongoing dialogue just as the government was prepared to deliver concrete commitments.
The sudden strike has once again left thousands of university students in uncertainty, reviving memories of previous prolonged academic disruptions that paralysed the education sector.
Critics suggested that ASUU’s refusal to engage, despite renewed assurances from the government, demonstrated a confrontational approach rather than cooperation, one that continually affects students, parents, and Nigeria’s already struggling education system.
The government maintained that it remained open to dialogue, but the latest development has raised serious concerns about ASUU’s sincerity.
While the Federal Government insisted it had made every effort to prevent another disruption, it appeared that the union’s leadership was determined to proceed, prioritising protest over progress.
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