ASUU Showdown: Union Threatens Total Strike as Tinubu Orders Resolution
University lecturers across Nigeria, under ASUU, have staged protests demanding the signing of the 2009 agreement and payment of arrears, warning of an impending strike. In response, President Tinubu has directed the Education Minister to resolve issues, with the government asserting past agreements were drafts and committing to a sustainable, implementable resolution while denying a scheduled meeting with ASUU.
University lecturers across Nigeria, under the umbrella of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), recently staged peaceful protests nationwide, issuing a stern warning of a potential total shutdown of public universities. Their core demand revolves around the Federal Government’s failure to address long-standing issues, including the conclusion of the 2009 agreement renegotiation, the provision of revitalisation funds, payment of withheld salaries, and unremitted deductions.
At the University of Lagos, Professor Idou Keinde, the branch chairman, accused the government of deliberate neglect, asserting that its refusal to meet ASUU’s grievances was pushing the union towards another industrial action. Similar sentiments were echoed in Bauchi, where Dr. Angulu Haruna, chairperson of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) branch, expressed lecturers' weariness with government deception, demanding payment of three and a half months' withheld salaries and four years of promotion arrears. Dr. Haruna also rejected the Tertiary Institutions Students Support Fund (TISSF) loan scheme, viewing it as a ploy to burden academics with debt rather than ensuring sustainable university funding.
In Niger State, Professor Lukman Oyewobi, chairman of the Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUT Minna) branch, highlighted the alarmingly low salaries of Nigerian professors, some earning less than $350 monthly, ranking them among the lowest paid in Africa. He condemned the government's delay tactics, which he believes destabilise campuses and undermine higher education. Furthermore, Professor Pius Mogaji, chairman of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) ASUU branch, accused the government of betraying trust by ignoring the Yayale Ahmed-led renegotiation panel's report for over five months. Mogaji also criticised the approval of nine new private universities despite an existing moratorium, describing it as