The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned that it may soon resume strike action after what it describes as exhausting all patience with the Bola Tinubu administration, which it accuses of corruption, policy failures, and neglect of the education sector.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, the new ASUU President, Professor Chris Piwuna, issued a stern warning to the Federal Government, citing the unresolved 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and other longstanding issues.
Piwuna said the union has shown restraint by holding off on strike action for nearly a year but may now be forced to act.
“We think that the Yayale Ahmed Committee has worked hard, and that we have finished the work with them, and that we need to hear from them,” Piwuna stated.
“We haven’t heard from them, and we think that they should go back. The Yayale Ahmed Committee should meet with their principals and get back to us as soon as possible. We have exhausted our patience in waiting for this renegotiated agreement.”
ASUU is demanding, among other things, the immediate release of a ₦150 billion revitalisation fund. The union has also expressed its frustration over the lack of implementation of key agreements, accusing the government of benefitting from national insecurity.
“The ordinary citizens of our country have become the victims of prolonged political manipulations and economic exploitation by the ruling class and their foreign sponsors,” Piwuna added.
He condemned the deteriorating state of Nigerian universities and the working conditions of academic staff.
“The university system has not been spared from the whirlwind of policy misadventures and orchestrated befuddlement of the polity.
“The governments of Nigeria, at the Federal and State levels, merely pay lip service to the business of education in general and the welfare of university academics in particular,” he said.
Piwuna further lamented the drawn-out nature of the agreement renegotiation process.
“It is saddening that the tortuous journey of renegotiating the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement has continued endlessly since 2017.”
He listed several unresolved issues: finalising the renegotiated 2009 Agreement based on the Nimi Briggs Committee’s 2021 draft; unpaid salaries from the 2022 strike period; salaries for sabbatical, adjunct, and part-time staff; third-party deductions such as union dues and cooperative contributions; the proliferation of universities; and insufficient university funding.
“It is noted that the government has made promises on some of these issues. The government agreed to mainstream the EAA into the salaries with the creation of Irregular Allowance as a budget line in the 2026 Budget, after the release of N50 billion for backlog and budgeting N29 billion for payment of 2025 Earned Academic Allowances,” he explained.
“Similarly, the government also agreed to release N150 billion as revitalisation fund within four weeks, with effect from April 2025.
“However, we are still waiting for the government to fulfil these promises. The Union has also reached an understanding with the Yayale Ahmed-led Committee, with the review of the report of the Nimi Briggs-led FGN-ASUU Renegotiation Committee in December 2024. Again, ASUU members have been left in limbo, waiting for the signing of an Agreement five months after!”
Following their recent National Delegates’ Conference at the University of Benin (UNIBEN), ASUU expressed deep concern over the government’s failure to make any meaningful progress.
“Delegates at the UNIBEN National Delegates’ Conference exhaustively evaluated the government’s disposition in resolving outstanding issues with the Union and expressed regrets that nothing has significantly changed in the last two years.”
Piwuna also accused the government of mismanaging educational resources. “Funds meant for the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) were being diverted to finance the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND),” he alleged.
