• Says FG’s inaction pushing varsity system to brink
• Laments govt’s poor attitude to quality education
• Rejects TISSF, loan scheme, insists on renegotiation of 2009 agreement

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to embark on “mother of all strikes” if the Federal Government fails to address a series of longstanding grievances.

Chairperson of ASUU, University of Calabar branch (ASUU-UCB), Dr Peter Ubi, who gave the warning yesterday, during a media briefing at the union’s secretariat, said the Federal Government had been given a final window of opportunity to act by tomorrow, August 28, 2025.

According to him, the unresolved matters include the renegotiation and implementation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, sustainable funding and revitalisation of public universities, alleged victimisation of ASUU members at Lagos State University (LASU), Abubakar Audu University (formerly KSU) and Federal University of Technology (FUTO), among others.

He decried the Federal Government’s failure to act on the Yayale Ahmed’s report submitted in February 2025.

The ASUU called on stakeholders, including the National Assembly, traditional rulers, civil society groups, the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), and the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) to prevail on the government to avert a crisis in the education sector.

Also, Chairman of ASUU, University of Lagos branch, Prof. Kehinde Idowu, has said that the government’s delay in re-negotiating the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement and other unresolved matters had eroded trust.

In the same vein, the ASUU Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) chapter has said that the country’s university system is on the verge of collapse due to the Federal Government’s continued disregard for longstanding agreements.

According to the academic staff of the institution, who complied with the directive of the union’s national body to protest across campuses in the country, approval of new private universities, while the existing institutions still struggle with inadequate funding, calls for serious concern.

Chairman of ASUU FUTA branch, Prof. Pius Mogaji, who spoke during the protest, stated that the government’s failure to address issues, such as the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, sustainable funding of universities, and the plight of retired academic staff, is threatening the foundation of higher education in Nigeria.

He urged Nigerians, NIREC, NANS, traditional rulers and the National Assembly to caution the government against pushing ASUU into avoidable confrontation.

The ASUU Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) Awka branch yesterday protested, demanding improved welfare and qualitative education.

Chairperson of ASUU-UNIZIK, Innocent Nnubia, while addressing the Acting Vice Chancellor of NAU at the Administrative Block of Awka Campus of the institution, yesterday, said: “ASUU is not a strike monger and doesn’t go on strike for the sake of strike, but any time it embarks on strike, there must be a critical issue.”

He stated that the ASUU members are tired of waiting for the settlement of their overdue entitlements, lamenting that the lecturers had been relegated to the background.

He condemned the victimisation of ASUU members at Kogi State University, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu University (COOU) and Federal University of Technology (FUTO), Owerri, calling for peaceful resolution of their cases.

Responding, the Acting Vice Chancellor of UniZik, Arinze-Umobi, represented by a member of the Governing Council, Prof. Pius Okoye, appreciated the patience and orderly manner of the protest.

Arinze-Umobi, however, promised that the institution would do everything humanly possible to liaise with the appropriate authorities on the need to address their demands, and condemned the delay tactics being employed by the Federal Government.

Meanwhile, the National President of ASUU, Prof. Chris Piwuna, has said that the demand in any state university is the demand of every federal university.

Piwuna also said that the demand in any federal university is the demand of every state university.

He stated this yesterday during a peaceful protest at the Plateau State University, Bokkos, Plateau State.

According to him, “the train that is about to take off is ready. I am sure you know the train. The train is ready. And there is no better confirmation that the train is ready than seeing the number of people here today.

“We know this university is closed, examinations are over, but for you to come out in these numbers today shows clearly that we are ready to move. All of us are ready to move.”

In his address, Chairman of the Plateau State University ASUU chapter, Dr Monday Zitta, said that Nigerian governments had distracted and deceived university lecturers for too long.

HOWEVER, the ASUU, joined by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), yesterday, staged simultaneous peaceful protests at the University of Ibadan (UI) and Emmanuel Alayande University of Education, Oyo, to express frustration over the Federal Government’s continued delay in signing the renegotiated agreements with the union.

The protests, held across both campuses, were led by ASUU chapter chairmen, Dr Adefemi Afolabi (UI) and Dr Michael Bamidele Ojo (Emmanuel Alayande University of Education), with the backing of the Oyo State Chairman of the NLC, Kayode Martins.

Afolabi, who decried the 16 years of failed negotiations, said: “The Federal Government had pushed the lecturers to the wall.”

Ojo echoed similar frustrations, warning that ASUU would no longer tolerate delay tactics from the current administration.

Meanwhile, the University of Port Harcourt chapter of ASUU has rejected the recently launched Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund (TISSF), describing it as a “distraction” and a “snare” aimed at further impoverishing its members.

The union’s chairperson, Omeh Ngwoke, stated this during a media briefing yesterday, after a congress held to amplify its recently concluded National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) from August 16-17, 2025.

According to Ngwoke, the loan is a deviation from the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement.

He noted that the government could have used the money earmarked for the loan to defray the three-and-a-half-month salary owed to the lecturers.

The ASUU Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi chapter also rejected the Federal Government’s loan.

The university lecturers, during a protest yesterday, said: “We reject the ploy to conscript ASUU as ‘guarantor’ of TISSF loan. We demand sustainable funding for public universities.”

University lecturers from the ASUU University of Abuja chapter also joined a national protest yesterday, demanding immediate payment of withheld salaries and wage arrears, as well as the implementation of a renegotiated agreement.

Chairman of the chapter, Dr Sylvanus Ugoh, said the action was to draw the attention of the Federal Government and Nigerians to the hardship faced by academic members of staff across the country.

According to him, the Federal Government is currently owing lecturers three and a half months’ salaries, as well as one-year arrears of the 25 per cent and 35 per cent wage awards.

He also decried the non-payment of promotion arrears of members for over five years and the failure to remit the third-party deductions meant for cooperatives and unions.