THE Federal Government has reiterated that it has addressed all the concerns raised by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), insisting there is no justification for the union’s planned industrial action.
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, stated this during a live interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, where he appealed to university lecturers to suspend the planned strike and return to the classrooms.
“We have addressed every single request by ASUU; there is no need for this strike, and we are pleading with them to go back to school. We need to keep our children in school,” Alausa said. He added that no other group has engaged his office as frequently as ASUU since he assumed office.
The minister dismissed claims that the government had been indifferent to ASUU’s long-standing demands, explaining that President Bola Tinubu had directed his administration to ensure fair treatment for all labour unions.
Alausa also highlighted new steps being taken by the government to strengthen tertiary education funding, including the reconstitution of the Federal Government Tertiary Institutions Expanded Negotiation Committee led by former Head of Service, Mahmud Yayale Ahmed.
The new committee, inaugurated last week, was tasked with unifying and accelerating negotiations with unions across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education. The Minister said the initiative reflects Tinubu’s commitment to ending the cycle of disruptions in Nigeria’s academic calendar through constructive dialogue.
However, despite these assurances, ASUU has commenced a two-week warning strike beginning Monday, October 13, 2025, accusing the government of failing to honour key agreements.
ASUU President, Chris Piwuna, announced the strike at a press conference in Abuja, saying the decision followed the government’s failure to fulfil several critical obligations, including the payment of earned academic allowances (EAA) and withheld salaries from the 2022 strike.
Piwuna said the union had received ₦50 billion from the government as part of the EAA but maintained that the total outstanding arrears stood at ₦103 billion. He added that the government’s recent request for additional time to address the pending issues was viewed by ASUU’s National Executive Council (NEC) as a delay tactic.
“The letter from Alhaji Yayale Ahmed was considered by our union as a delay tactic. They asked for two weeks two weeks ago, and now they’re asking for another three. NEC viewed that as an attempt to stall progress,” Piwuna said.
He lamented that lecturers are still being owed several months of salary arrears despite promises made by the government, stressing that the union’s patience had been overstretched.
The ICIR had earlier reported that the federal government inaugurated the new negotiation committee barely a day after ASUU began mobilising members for the current action. The committee’s formation was part of broader efforts to unify discussions with tertiary education unions and avoid the fragmented negotiations that have plagued past administrations.
ASUU, however, maintains that the reconstituted committee and recent government interventions have yet to produce tangible results. The union insists that without concrete action from the government, it will be compelled to escalate its strike beyond the initial two weeks.
Piwuna reaffirmed ASUU’s commitment to revitalising Nigeria’s public universities and protecting the welfare of its members, saying, “We’re not disputing that President Tinubu or Dr. Alausa have made efforts, but ASUU too has made great sacrifices.”
While the government continues to appeal for dialogue, the renewed standoff has again raised concerns about the stability of Nigeria’s higher education system, which has suffered repeated disruptions from prolonged industrial actions over the years.
A reporter with the ICIR
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