The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to embark on yet another nationwide strike over what it described as the Federal Government’s persistent failure to honour longstanding agreements on revitalising and properly funding Nigeria’s public universities.
ASUU President, Professor Christopher Piwuna, speaking at a press conference at the University of Jos on Thursday, August 21, 2025, said the union has been pushed to the brink after enduring over two years of unmet promises and “delay tactics” from President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
“The general public should note that ASUU has written several letters to the FGN, drawing its attention to the need to resolve this crisis amicably. Lamentably, the FGN has always turned a deaf ear to all our pleas,” Piwuna said.
He listed key unresolved issues, including the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, outstanding salary arrears, withheld promotions, welfare of retired lecturers, and what the union called the “unjust proliferation” of new universities without sustainable funding.
‘Our Members Don’t Need Loans’
ASUU also rejected the government’s proposed loan scheme for lecturers, describing it as a misplaced initiative.
“Our members do not need loans. What we need is the implementation of agreements that will improve our purchasing power. Government is still owing us three months’ salaries, yet they are asking us to borrow money,” Piwuna declared.
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The union further lamented the plight of retired professors, many of whom, after decades of service, now receive pensions as low as ₦150,000 monthly amid galloping inflation and rising living costs.
Strike Looms, Rallies Begin Next Week
Although ASUU said it would wait for the outcome of a scheduled government meeting on August 28 before announcing its next move, the union warned that rallies will begin across campuses nationwide next week to register lecturers’ frustrations.
“Time is running out. We cannot continue to wait endlessly while the future of Nigerian universities is destroyed,” the ASUU president said, signalling that another full-blown strike may be imminent.
Nigeria’s university system has suffered repeated shutdowns in recent years, with prolonged ASUU strikes often disrupting the academic calendar and stalling student progress. The looming crisis, if not averted, could plunge the already fragile education sector into deeper uncertainty.