The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, and the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Sai’d Ahmed, have criticised the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for calling out its members to begin warning strike from today, insisting that all the concerns raised by the union have been addressed.
They urged ASUU to reconsider its position and return to dialogue in the best interest of students and the future of Nigeria’s education system.
Their comments were in reaction to the strike that ASUU called beginning today.
Both ministers jointly reaffirmed the unwavering commitment of the Federal Government to constructive engagement with ASUU towards the sustainable resolution of all outstanding issues affecting the university system.
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According to both ministers, “The Federal Government has demonstrated demonstrable sincerity, patience, and goodwill in its dialogue with the union, and virtually all the concerns raised by ASUU have been addressed”.
Buttressing the level of government commitment to addressing their plight, Alausa said government has ensured the introduction of a big percentage of teaching allowance and significant improvements in the conditions of service of academic staff.
He claimed that the few remaining matters yet to be resolved are those that rightfully fall within the jurisdiction of the governing councils of the respective universities, which have been recently reconstituted to handle such internal issues.
They noted that, though the government is making all efforts to resolve all the issues and ensure that students remain in school, ASUU is not operating with the same zeal.
“The government had met the deadline for presenting its position to the union as agreed, yet instead of reverting to the ministry in continuation of dialogue, ASUU has chosen to proceed with strike action.
“This action does not reflect a spirit of cooperation or fairness to the students and the public, especially given the government’s demonstrable commitment and concrete steps already taken,” they noted in a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday.
The ministers further stressed that the government has continued to prioritise the welfare of university staff and the stability of the academic calendar under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to them, dialogue remains the most effective and sustainable path to resolving disagreements, and government remains open to engagement at any level to prevent unnecessary disruption in the education sector.
They, however, emphasised that the “no work, no pay” policy remains an extant labour law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the government will be guided by this law should academic activities be disrupted in the nation’s universities. They said while government continues to demonstrate goodwill and flexibility, it will not abdicate its responsibility to uphold fairness and accountability in the use of public resources.
The statement reassured Nigerian students, parents, and the general public that the Federal Government is firmly committed to maintaining industrial harmony in the tertiary education system.
The ministers appealed to all academic unions to embrace partnership and dialogue rather than confrontation, in the collective interest of the nation’s higher education system.
They reiterated that the government’s education reform agenda is designed to enhance teaching and research conditions, promote institutional autonomy through strengthened university governance, and ensure that the academic community thrives in an environment of mutual respect, productivity, and innovation.
They both reaffirmed the commitment of the Federal Government to work with all stakeholders to safeguard the academic calendar and prevent further disruption in the learning process.
ASUU Begins Two Weeks Warning Strike Nationwide
Meanwhile, President of ASUU, Prof. Chris Piwuna, who declared the warning strike, faulted the Federal Government for shying away from addressing the core grievances of the union.
Declaring the action, Piwuna said, “It goes without saying that there is nothing sufficient on ground to stop the implementation of ASUU-NEC’s resolution to embark on a two-week warning strike at the expiry of the 14 days notice given on 28th September, 2025. Consequently, all branches of ASUU are hereby directed to withdraw their services with effect from midnight on Monday, 13th October, 2025.
“The warning strike shall be total and comprehensive as agreed at the last NEC meeting”.
Recall that ASUU and the Federal Government have had a long-standing face-off over a collective bargaining agreement entered in 2009.
The ASUU leadership chided government officials for constant appeals without concrete steps to address the lingering grievances bedeviling the union.
ASUU said it was moved to call out its members to embark on strike after appraising the state of their engagements with the Federal Government in respect of the outstanding demands.
Piwuna while addressing a press conference at its headquarters located at the University of Abuja, said the warning strike was also predicated on the need to remove any ambiguity about the notice of action issued by the National Executive Council (NEC) of ASUU on the 28th of September, 2025.
Piwuna said NEC met and, “decried the neglect of the university system and 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”.
He said the union had no option than to embark on a two-week warning strike without any further notice because nothing significant has happened to change the position of NEC since they last briefed the press on the listed eight (8) items as issues in dispute.
“The issues include conclusion of the renegotiated 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement, release of the withheld three-and-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.). In a letter dated 30th September, 2025, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, on behalf of government appealed that the union should withdraw the notice of the 14-day ultimatum”.
He acknowledged that ASUU had been patient with government and shown “understanding with respect to the renegotiation process, which has inadvertently lingered over time” (eight years!). Although he promised to transmit 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.
ASUU said 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.
He said, “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 to 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 Danfodio 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’s 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 “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. 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.”