Another paralysis of the university system may be looming as the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has vehemently accused the Federal Government of serially breaching the 2009 agreement, and warned of a possible nationwide strike.
ASUU President, Christopher Piwuna, gave this indication a press conference held at the University of Jos on Thursday, accusing the Federal Government of failing to honour longstanding agreements on the revitalisation and proper funding of Nigeria’s public universities.
And having endured over two years of broken promises and delay tactics by the government, Piwuna said the union may have no other choice than declare a nationwide strike.
Among the unresolved issues listed by Piwuna are: the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, outstanding salary arrears, withheld promotions, and the welfare of retired lecturers.
“The general public should also note that ASUU has written several letters to the FGN drawing its attention to the need to resolve this crisis amicably. Lamentably, the FGN has always turned a deaf ear to all our pleas,” the ASUU president continued.
“As always, it is the FGN that has consistently pushed our union to embark on a strike action, and it is clear that ASUU may have no other option than to embark on an action to press the FGN to listen to our demands and do the needful
“The government made promises on these issues. Regrettably, we are here today to inform the Nigerian public, through you, that these undisputed issues could lead to a crisis in our educational sector have met, as with other consequences, nothing but the same response.”
Piwuna rejected the government’s proposed tertiary institutions staff support fund loan scheme, describing it as a trap.
“Our members do not need loans,” the ASUU President declared categorically. “What we need is the implementation of agreements that will improve our purchasing power. Government is still owing us three months’ salaries, yet they are asking us to borrow money.”
The union also criticised the proliferation of universities without sustainable funding, warning that such actions have lowered standards and global rankings.
On pensions, ASUU decried a situation where professors who served for over 40 years now receive as little as ₦150,000 monthly, despite biting inflation and spiraling cost of living.
However, ASUU said it would await the outcome of its meeting with government on August 28, 2025, before deciding its next line of action. But the ASUU President said emphatically that varsity lecturers will stage rallies across campuses next week to underscore their frustrations.
“Time is running out,” Piwuna warned. “We cannot continue to wait endlessly while the future of Nigerian universities is destroyed.”
With this latest warning, fears are growing that another ASUU strike may be loading and it would further disrupt Nigeria’s fragile education system if nothing is done to prevent it.
It would be recalled that in 2022, ASUU went on an eight-month nationwide strike over similar issues, the second-longest of work stoppages by the union. In 2020, when the world was brought to its knees by the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigerian university teachers went on strike for nine months. That strike remains the longest in the nation’s history.
