The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has cautioned that it may resume a nationwide strike if the Federal Government fails to meet its demands before the end of its one-month ultimatum.
ASUU’s Kano Zonal Coordinator, Abdulkadir Muhammad, issued the warning on Tuesday, Nov. 18, while addressing journalists after a zonal meeting in Kano.
The union had suspended its warning strike in October, giving the Federal Government a month to address concerns relating to lecturers’ welfare and the need for improved teaching and learning conditions in public universities.
Muhammad criticised what he described as the government’s slow and uncommitted approach to renegotiating key agreements aimed at revitalising Nigeria’s university system.
Representatives from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria; Bayero University, Kano (BUK); Kaduna State University (KASU); Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology (ADUSTECH), Wudil; Federal University, Dutse (FUD); Northwest University (NWU), Kano; and Sule Lamido University (SLUK), Kafin Hausa, attended the meeting.
He explained that the updates presented at ASUU’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on Nov. 8 and 9 at Taraba State University showed dissatisfaction with the pace of negotiations, which the NEC described as a major stumbling block to reaching a meaningful conclusion.
Muhammad said the October suspension of the strike was intended as a gesture of goodwill and to create an atmosphere conducive for productive discussions. However, he expressed concern that hopes for a timely resolution were fading.
“It is unfortunate that some government officials have resorted to tactics that undermine the negotiation process and mislead the public,” he said.
He also noted that the government had yet to show real commitment to improving lecturers' welfare or addressing the factors contributing to the massive brain drain in the university sector.
“What the government has proposed will neither enhance the working conditions of academics nor attract international scholars to our universities,” he added.
Muhammad further criticised claims that ASUU’s demands had been met, urging the Federal Government to place a moratorium on the creation of new state universities, just as it has done with federal institutions. He said many governors open new universities without properly funding existing ones.
Similarly, the Benin Zone of ASUU warned that it would join any resumed strike if directed by the NEC. Zonal Coordinator Prof. Monday Lewis Igbafen accused the Federal Government of showing clear unwillingness to resolve lingering issues necessary to restore stability to the university system.
He described the stagnation of lecturers’ salaries for over 15 years as “wicked and inhumane.”
In Calabar, ASUU’s Calabar Zonal Coordinator, Ikechukwu Igwenyi, also cautioned that the union would embark on industrial action if the Federal Government does not address its demands.
The union is calling for the completion and implementation of renegotiated agreements, improved remuneration, better working conditions, and measures to curb the ongoing exodus of academics.
ASUU’s demands include the release of three and a half months’ withheld salaries, payment of all backlogs, settlement of third-party deductions, and payment of all promotion arrears.
They also want the government to pay the outstanding 25–35% wage award with consequential adjustments, increase funding for education, ensure sustainable financing of universities, respect university autonomy, and stop imposing policies that undermine academic freedom.
“We gave the government a four-week ultimatum to address these issues… We shall remain unbowed, unbroken, and unwavering in this just struggle, confident that victory is assured,” ASUU stated.
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