Nigeria’s public universities may be heading for another round of disruption.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, on Thursday raised the red flag again, warning that it may be forced to shut down campuses nationwide if the Federal Government and state governments do not immediately act on a string of unresolved issues.
The warning came after an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council held at the University of Abuja. Rising from the meeting, ASUU President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna, told journalists that lecturers across the country are frustrated and feel betrayed by government’s failure to keep promises.
According to him, the union may resume its suspended strike “without any further notice” if urgent steps are not taken in the coming weeks.
At the heart of the dispute is the December 2025 agreement signed with the government. ASUU says key parts of that agreement are still sitting on paper.
Top on the list is money. The union is demanding the payment of 3.5 months of salaries that were withheld during the 2022 strike. Piwuna noted that while the President Bola Tinubu administration has so far paid 4 out of the 7.5 months owed, the balance of 3.5 months is yet to be released.
But it’s not just salaries. ASUU also accused both federal and state authorities of failing to remit billions of naira deducted from lecturers’ pay. These deductions, the union said, include pension contributions, cooperative society dues, and union check-off dues that were supposed to go to the appropriate bodies but have not been paid.
Piwuna described the development as “a deliberate attempt to cripple the finances of lecturers and their unions” and warned that it is already threatening industrial harmony in universities.
The union, however, did acknowledge some progress at the state level. ASUU commended Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, for taking the lead in implementing the agreement. The governments of Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina and Borno were also praised for beginning the process.
ASUU further disclosed that six other states — Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe and Bayelsa — have given assurances that they will start implementing the agreement between September and October 2026.
But the union said that goodwill in a handful of states cannot cover the failure at the federal level and in many other states that have done nothing.
Speaking with a firm tone, Prof. Piwuna said lecturers have endured enough. He argued that unpaid salaries and unremitted deductions have pushed many academics into financial hardship, and that morale in universities is at an all-time low.
He insisted that ASUU is not interested in shutting down schools, but that government is leaving it with no choice.
“We have been patient. We have engaged. We have signed agreements. If those agreements are not implemented, then we will have no option but to resume our industrial action without any further notice,” Piwuna declared.
The union’s position is clear: implement the December 2025 agreement in full, pay the remaining salary arrears, and remit all deducted funds, or risk another nationwide strike that could paralyze academic activities.
With the new academic session already underway in many universities, students, parents and stakeholders are now watching closely to see if the government will move fast enough to avert another crisis in the nation’s already fragile university system.
The ball, ASUU says, is now firmly in the court of the Federal Government and state governors.
