Nigeria’s Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has declared that the planned two-week warning strike must continue, while also describing the government’s draft agreement presented at an emergency meeting held on Friday as “a total departure from the letter and spirit of the ‘Review of the Draft 2022 Agreement’” earlier submitted to the government by the Yayale Ahmed-led renegotiation committee.
The union announced this on Sunday afternoon at a press briefing held at the Yakubu Gowon University (formerly University of Abuja), which was addressed by its National President, Chris Piwuna.
Mr Piwuna, a professor of Medicine at the University of Jos, Northcentral Nigeria, told journalists that the government has shown no commitment to acceding to his union’s requests, insisting that following the expiration of the two-week ultimatum earlier announced in September, there was no going back on strike as earlier announced.
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Two weeks ago, the union issued a final ultimatum to the government after its chapters and the National Executive Council (NEC) decided in favour of a strike.
In his statement, Mr Piwuna said: “Compatriots of the Press, it goes without saying that there is nothing sufficient on the ground to stop the implementation of ASUU-NEC’s resolution to embark on a two-week warning strike at the expiry of the 14-day notice given on 28th September, 2025. Consequently, all branches of ASUU are hereby directed to withdraw their services with effect from midnight (12.01a.m.) on Monday, 13th October, 2025. The warning strike shall be total and comprehensive as agreed at the last NEC meeting.”
The ASUU President’s statement is reproduced below:
ACADEMIC STAFF UNION OF UNIVERSITIES (ASUU) FESTUS IYAYI NATIONAL SECRETARIAT COMPLEX, UNIVERSITY OF ABUJA, GIRI, ABUJA TEXT OF AN EMERGENCY PRESS CONFERENCE OF THE ACADEMIC STAFF UNION OF UNIVERSITIES (ASUU) HELD AT THE FESTUS IYAYI NATIONAL SECRETARIAT, UNIVERSITY OF ABUJA, ABUJA, ON SUNDAY, 12TH OCTOBER 2025 COMMENCEMENT OF TWO-WEEK WARNING STRIKE
Dear Compatriots of the Press, On behalf of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), I welcome you to this emergency media interaction and thank you immensely for responding to our call in spite of the very short notice. This media interaction became compelling for two main reasons: one, to apprise the media and the general public of the state of our engagements with the Federal Government in respect of our union’s outstanding demands; and two, to remove any ambiguity about the notice of action issued by the National Executive Council (NEC) of ASUU on the 28th of September, 2025. As stated in our media briefing of 29th September, 2025, the NEC meeting “decried the neglect of the university system and the Government’s consistent refusal to heed its demands”. Consequently, NEC resolved to give the “Federal Government of Nigeria an ultimatum of fourteen (14) days within which to address these issues. If, at the end of the fourteen-day ultimatum, the Federal Government fails to address these issues, the
Union may have no option but to embark on a two-week warning strike without any further notice.” It is regrettable to note that nothing significant has happened to change the position of NEC since we last briefed the Press on the listed eight (8) items as issues in dispute. The issues include the conclusion of the renegotiated 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement, release of the withheld three-and-a-half months’ salaries, sustainable funding of public universities, revitalisation of universities, and cessation of the victimisation of lecturers in LASU, KSU (now Prince Abubakar Audu University) and FUTO. Others are payment of the outstanding 25-35% salary arrears, payment of promotion arrears for over four years, and release of withheld third-party deductions (cooperative contributions, union check-off dues, etc.).
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In a letter dated 30th September, 2025, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, on behalf of the government, appealed that the union should withdraw the notice of the 14-day ultimatum. He acknowledged that ASUU had been patient with the government and shown “understanding with respect to the renegotiation process, which has inadvertently lingered over time” (eight years!). Although he promised to transmit the Government’s position on the Draft Agreement to the union with the return of Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, the Chairman of the Renegotiating Team, to the country, what ASUU got at “An Emergency Meeting of the FGN/ASUU 2009 Agreement Renegotiation Committee” held on Friday, 10th October 2025, was nothing to write home about. To say the least, the documents were neither here nor there. While the Permanent Secretary acknowledged in his letter that “Dr. Yayale Ahmed’s Committee has recorded commendable progress, culminating in the transmission of the draft report of the 2009 renegotiated Nimi Briggs Agreement to the Ministry,” the presentation to the ASUU Team at the emergency meeting was a total departure from the letters and spirit of the “Review of the Draft 2022 Agreement” submitted by Alhaji Yayale Ahmed to the Ministry.
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 Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto (UDUS), by asking for three weeks of grace to sort things out. 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 will a government that has been talking to the union for more than one year through its Negotiating Team now resort to an “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 the government’s strategy all along: Let’s keep them talking! It is a betrayal of historic responsibility if we continue to fall for the government’s characteristic game of deception and manipulation. History will not forgive intellectuals who watch helplessly while the working and living conditions of Nigerian academics further deteriorate, and our universities are further incapacitated to respond to the challenges of the 21st-century knowledge economy.
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The matter goes beyond tokenism; what is needed is a fundamental transformation of our university system. This is all ASUU is asking for! We therefore plead for the understanding of our dear students and their parents. We equally invite other patriotic Nigerians, including workers, media practitioners and civil society activists, to join ASUU in this transformational mission.
Compatriots of the Press, it goes without saying that there is nothing sufficient on the ground to stop the implementation of ASUU-NEC’s resolution to embark on a two-week warning strike at the expiry of the 14-day notice given on 28th September, 2025. 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.
Long live ASUU! Long live the Nigerian University System! Long live Nigeria! Thank you.
Chris Piwuna,
ASUU President,
12th October, 2025.
