UPDATED: ASUU issues 14-day strike notice over unresolved issues

•Vows to ground universities over renegotiation of 2009 agreement, earned allowance, promotion arrears, others

The leadership of Academic Staff Union of Universities  (ASUU), on Monday, issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government  to address its various demands or risk industrial action.

President of ASUU, Professor Chris Piwuna, conveyed the strike notice to the Federal Government in a statement issued in Abuja.

He noted that the 14-day ultimatum was the outcome of the National Executive Council  (NEC) meeting of the union held on Sunday at its University of Abuja’s headquarters.

He described the strike notice as an alarm for danger that government would want to prevent by addressing the demands of the union to avoid a situation where universities in the country are grounded from operations.

Some of the demands of ASUU overtime include: renegotiation of 2009 agreement, funding of universities, particularly, revitalisation fund, promotion arrears and Academic Earned Allowance among others.

Piwuna called on all well-meaning Nigerians, religious and traditional rulers, parents, students, and  other stakeholders in the education sector to press the Nigerian Government to turn its attention to Nigerian public universities to address the challenges in the system.

The ASUU president accused the Federal Government of paying scant attention to demands of the union, recalling that in recent times, ASUU has been engaging the press  frequently.

He noted that the obvious reason has been to draw the attention of the Nigerian government and members of the general public to the declining fortunes of university education and its implications for the nation’s desire for transformative and lasting development.

“Apart from engagement with the press, in the month of August this year, members of  ASUU in both federal and state universities held rallies, carrying placards on their campuses in order to press the government to address the lingering issues in the university system.

“Nothing came out of all these rallies and pleas. What is clear for now is that both the federal and state governments have a strong habit of paying little or no attention to the education sector in general and the welfare of university academics in particular,” he said.

Recall that the Minister of Education, Dr Olatunji Alausa, had noted that  the Federal Government has been engaging the leadership of ASUU on the issues.

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He had recently set up a committee chaired by the permanent secretary of the ministry, Abel Enitan to look into a proposal for ASUU in a bid to ensure stability across universities.

Part of the statement read: “At the NEC meeting held at the University of Abuja on September 28, 2025, the union decried the neglect of the university system and the government’s consistent refusal to heed to its demands.

“Accordingly, ASUU has given the Federal Government  an ultimatum of 14 days within which to address these issues. If at the end of the  14 days ultimatum, the Federal Government fails to address these issues, the union may have no option than to  embark on a two-week warning strike and thereafter, a total and indefinite strike.

“It is over 16 years now since ASUU has brought these issues to the media and the public domain. It means, therefore, that these issues are not new to you and the general public. For the past three months, ASUU has mentioned these issues at both the national, zonal and branch levels. For the past three months, these issues have been debated and combated in the media and other platforms. For the benefit of the doubt, they include:

“Re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement; sustainable funding of our universities; revitalisation of universities; victimisation of our colleges in Lagos State University (LASU), Kogi State University (KSU)  and  the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO).

“Others are: outstanding 25-35 percent salary areas, promotion areas for over  four years and third-party deductions.

“ASUU is confident that the Nigerian leadership has the capacity to fix Nigerian universities once and for all. ASUU also believes  that the Nigerian government has the financial strength to tackle the problem of university education in Nigeria.

“We are, therefore, calling on well-meaning Nigerians, religious and traditional rulers, parents, students and all other stakeholders in the education sector to press the Nigerian government to turn its attention to Nigerian public universities this time to do that is right now. There is this common logic that; a pilot who hears an alarm of danger would refuse to fly so as to avoid a crash.

“The 14 days ultimatum, therefore, is an alarm to the Nigerian government and ASUU as a union believes that the government has the muscle to avert this looming strike. As they say in English: a stitch in time saves nine,” he stated.