Orders members to down tools Monday
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has embarked on its 18th strike in 26 years, citing the Federal Government’s failure to address long-standing issues affecting public universities across the country.
Announcing the commencement of a two-week “total strike” at a press conference on Sunday in Abuja, ASUU President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna, ordered its members to withdraw their services across the country, effective 12:01 a.m. on Monday, October 14, 2025.
He said the industrial action became inevitable after several unfulfilled promises, stressing that the Nigerian Government had paid lip service to its seven-point demands.
The development comes after the two-week ultimatum the Union issued to the Federal Government to address their long-standing demands expired.
Prof. Piwuna expressed dismay that nothing significant had happened since it issued the two-week ultimatum. “Government has been asking for time with nothing concrete on the ground to resolve it,” he said.
According to him, the decision to embark on the total strike was reached after several rounds of meetings with government representatives ended without any tangible commitment.
Prof. Piwuna noted that the Union had exhausted all avenues for dialogue and patience, emphasising that the action was the last resort to compel the Government to fulfil its promises.
He further explained that the Union had consistently shown restraint in order not to disrupt the academic calendar, but the Government’s insensitivity had left them with no alternative.
“Consequently, all branches of ASUU are hereby directed to withdraw their services with effect from midnight (12:01 a.m.) on Monday, 13th October 2025. The warning strike shall be total and comprehensive as agreed at the last NEC meeting,” he said.
He also called on well-meaning Nigerians, civil society organisations, and the media to prevail upon the Federal Government to address the lingering issues once and for all.
The Union warned that after the expiration of the two-week strike, it would meet to decide the next line of action, even as it warned the Government to use the opportunity of the strike to resolve the long-standing issues once and for all.
The seven-point demands include: renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement; sustainable funding of universities; revitalisation of universities; victimisation of ASUU members in Lagos State University (LASU), KSU (now Prince Abubakar Audu University), and Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO).
Others are outstanding 25–35 per cent salary arrears, promotion arrears for over four years, as well as third-party deductions.
Piwuna added: “In consonance with our Union’s principles, ASUU will soon submit its position pointing out areas of deliberate distortion, inconsistency, and flagrant disregard for extant laws, policies, and practices to the Federal Government. Suffice to state, however, that the hurriedly packaged documents were provocative and incapable of dousing industrial tensions which had reached an irreversible pitch across our campuses.
“The Federal Government raised our members’ hopes in resolving the lingering issues before we held the August 2025 NEC meeting at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), by asking for three weeks of grace to sort out things. It was a hard sell, but the leadership managed to convince NEC to exercise a little more patience. The pre-UDUS NEC hope was dashed without a blink! Government agents have again been pleading for more time since the expiry of the three-week promise, with nothing concrete for ASUU leadership to take to their members. Why would a government that has been talking to the Union for more than one year through its Negotiating Team now resort to ‘emergency’ to address a negotiation process which has lingered for over eight years? Is it not a demonstration of bad faith that a government would rubbish wholesale a draft agreement packaged between its representatives and those of ASUU?
“And now that matters have come to a head, it is still appealing, appealing, appealing, and appealing to no end! This resort to appeals has only confirmed our members’ suspicion of government’s strategy all along: let’s keep them talking! It is a betrayal of historic responsibility if we continue to fall for government’s characteristic game of deception and manipulation.”
The Guardian reports that the strike marks the 18th industrial action undertaken by the Union since 1999. The reasons behind these industrial actions include demands for increased university funding, improved working conditions, reinstatement of dismissed lecturers, renegotiation of earlier agreements, among others.
The strikes, which have ranged from warning strikes to full-blown actions, took place in 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007.
Subsequent actions occurred in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2022.
