The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has given the Federal Government 14 days to address lingering issues affecting Nigeria’s tertiary institutions or risk a fresh industrial action.
The ultimatum followed the union’s National Executive Council meeting held on September 28 at the University of Abuja. In a statement signed by its President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, ASUU accused the government of neglecting the university system and refusing to meet its demands.
Piwuna recalled that in August 2025, lecturers across federal and state universities staged rallies to press their demands, but “nothing came out of all these rallies and pleas.” He said both federal and state governments had shown “a strong habit of paying little or no attention to the education sector in general and the welfare of university academics in particular.”
ASUU warned that failure to meet its demands within the 14-day window could trigger a two-week warning strike, which may escalate into a total and indefinite shutdown of public universities.
The union listed its demands to include: re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, sustainable funding of universities, revitalisation of facilities, and addressing the victimisation of members at LASU, KSU (now Prince Abubakar Audu University), and FUTO. Other issues raised include outstanding 25 to 35 per cent salary arrears, promotion arrears of over four years, and unpaid third-party deductions.
“ASUU is confident that the Nigerian leadership has the capacity to fix Nigerian universities once and for all. ASUU also believes strongly that the Nigerian Government has the financial strength to tackle the problem of university education in Nigeria. We are therefore calling on all well-meaning Nigerian citizens, religious and traditional rulers, parents, students, and all other stakeholders in the education sector to press the Nigerian government to turn its attention to Nigerian public universities. The time to do that is right now,” the statement read.
The warning comes weeks after ASUU accused the Federal Government of failing to honour longstanding agreements on revitalisation and funding of public universities, lamenting over two years of broken promises and delay tactics.
