ASUU Begin Two-Week Strike Over Unresolved Disputes

Nigerian university lecturers commenced a two-week warning strike at midnight on Monday, 13 October 2025, following the government’s failure to address longstanding grievances affecting the country’s higher education sector.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities announced the industrial action during an emergency press briefing on Sunday evening after the expiration of a 14-day deadline previously given to federal authorities. The union’s leadership expressed disappointment at what they described as years of governmental neglect and broken promises.

Professor Chris Iwuona, who leads the union, stated that the decision to down tools came after exhausting all diplomatic channels with the authorities. The lecturers had issued their ultimatum on 28 September 2025, warning that failure to meet their demands would result in industrial action.

The striking lecturers are seeking resolution on several critical issues. Chief amongst these is the finalisation of a renegotiated agreement from 2009 that has remained incomplete for nearly eight years. They are also demanding the release of salaries that were withheld for three and a half months, as well as sustainable funding mechanisms for public universities.

Additional grievances include the cessation of what the union describes as victimisation of colleagues at certain state universities, payment of outstanding salary arrears ranging from 25 to 35 per cent, and the release of withheld cooperative contributions and union dues that have been deducted from staff salaries. The union is also calling for payment of promotion arrears that have accumulated over four years and comprehensive revitalisation of the education sector to halt what they term the deterioration of university infrastructure and working conditions.

According to the union’s leadership, the government made several appeals to postpone the strike action. A letter dated 30 September from the education ministry acknowledged the lengthy nature of negotiations and requested patience whilst awaiting the return of the negotiation committee chairman from overseas travel.

An emergency meeting was subsequently convened on 10 October 2025, where government representatives presented proposals intended to address the lecturers’ concerns. However, the union rejected these proposals outright, describing them as inadequate and inconsistent with previously agreed-upon terms.

Professor Iwuona stated that the documents presented by the government team contained significant distortions and represented a complete departure from earlier draft agreements. The union found the proposals to be at odds with established laws, policies, and accepted academic practices.

The lecturers’ union has accused the federal authorities of employing delaying tactics and manipulation to avoid addressing substantive issues. They questioned why a government that had been engaged in discussions for over a year suddenly resorted to an “emergency” approach to handle a negotiation process that has dragged on for eight years.

The union’s leadership suggested that repeated governmental appeals for patience amounted to a calculated strategy to keep them engaged in fruitless dialogue without meaningful action. They expressed frustration at what they characterised as the government’s betrayal of trust and lack of commitment to the education sector.

Earlier this year, during an August meeting, the lecturers had agreed to grant the government a three-week grace period to address outstanding issues. The union stated that this deadline passed without any tangible progress, leaving their members increasingly frustrated.

Professor Iwuona confirmed that all branches of the union nationwide have been instructed to fully implement the two-week warning strike. Academic activities will cease completely across all affected campuses during this period. The union’s statement emphasised that there were no grounds to halt the industrial action, given the government’s failure to present acceptable solutions.

The lecturers stressed that their struggle extends beyond personal welfare to encompass the survival of Nigeria’s public university system. In their announcement, they appealed to students, parents, and the general public for understanding and support. They characterised the industrial action as a necessary intervention to prevent the total collapse of public universities.

The union urged Nigerians to view their campaign as a patriotic mission aimed at reviving and transforming the country’s educational infrastructure. They called upon civil society organisations, media outlets, and other labour unions to support their efforts to secure adequate funding and proper working conditions in the university sector.

The leadership emphasised that their demands were not about token gestures but rather about achieving fundamental transformation of the nation’s higher education system. They warned that continuing to ignore the deteriorating state of universities would represent a failure of historical responsibility.

Shortly before the strike commenced, federal authorities reportedly warned that they would invoke a “no work, no pay” policy for the duration of the industrial action. This position suggests that participating lecturers will not receive salaries for the strike period. The government had previously appealed to the union to shelve its planned action, assuring representatives that it remained committed to addressing all outstanding demands. However, these assurances failed to persuade the union’s leadership, who insisted that they had heard similar promises too many times without seeing concrete results.

The strike marks another chapter in the protracted dispute between university lecturers and the federal government over the state of higher education in Nigeria. Previous industrial actions have resulted in prolonged disruptions to academic calendars, affecting millions of students across the country.

The two-week warning strike is intended to serve as a preliminary measure. Union officials have indicated that if the government fails to address their concerns within this period, they may proceed to declare an indefinite total strike, which would bring all academic activities in public universities to a complete standstill. With students having only recently returned to campuses following previous disruptions, the latest industrial action threatens to derail academic programmes once again and prolong the time required for students to complete their degrees.