The Academic Staff Union of Universities has kicked against agreements reached between the federal government and the United Kingdom on education, including plans to establish Coventry University in Nigeria.

ASUU President, Christopher Piwuna, made the union’s position known at a public lecture organised by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Sa’adu Zungur University branch.

Piwuna described the proposed establishment of Coventry University campus in Nigeria as unacceptable, alleging that it was part of a broader agenda that could undermine Nigeria’s university system.

He expressed concern that while Nigerian students face visa restrictions to study in the UK, British institutions are seeking to operate within Nigeria.

According to him, “They have denied Nigerians visas to study in the UK, yet they are coming here to establish universities and take our money. This is another form of colonialism, and ASUU will strongly oppose it.”

The ASUU president further alleged that some foreign universities were facing financial challenges and declining international student enrolment, prompting their expansion into countries like Nigeria.

He insisted that Nigerian universities must be strengthened internally rather than allowing foreign institutions to dominate the sector.

Piwuna also emphasised the need to preserve the committee system in Nigerian universities, warning against excessive concentration of powers in the office of vice-chancellors.

On welfare, the ASUU leader issued a four-day ultimatum to the federal government to implement the agreed new salary structure for university lecturers.

He warned that failure to meet the deadline would attract a response from the union.

“We cannot continue to wait indefinitely for the implementation of the new salary structure. If at the end of this month nothing is done, they will hear from us,” he said.

In her remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of Sa’adu Zungur University, Fatima Tahir, reaffirmed the institution’s commitment to staff welfare and productivity.

She noted that the university had taken steps to implement agreements reached with the federal government and ensure that the ASUU branch was not financially indebted.

Tahir urged academic staff to reciprocate management’s efforts by remaining committed to their duties and contributing to the growth of the institution.

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The Academic Staff Union of Universities has warned the Federal Government of Nigeria to immediately implement the newly approved salary structure for university lecturers or face a possible nationwide shutdown of public universities.

The union issued a four-day ultimatum on Thursday, with its president, Christopher Piwuna, saying failure to act within the deadline would trigger a strong response.

Speaking at Sa’adu Zungur University in Bauchi State, Piwuna said the government must begin payment under the new salary arrangement without further delay.

“We have issued a four-day ultimatum from today to the federal government to commence payment of the newly approved salary structure. Failure to comply will attract a strong response from the union,” he said.

The warning comes months after ASUU and the federal government signed a renegotiated agreement in January, aimed at resolving long-standing disputes and preventing the recurring strikes that have plagued Nigeria’s university system.

At the heart of the agreement is a revised salary structure designed to improve lecturers’ welfare and finally address issues stemming from the controversial 2009 FG-ASUU pact, which remained largely unimplemented for years.

Despite initial optimism from the union that the deal would mark a turning point, ASUU says there has been little progress. Piwuna recently disclosed that many federal universities are struggling to pay salaries, with some unable to fully pay January wages and others yet to pay for February.

The crisis recently escalated at the University of Lagos where lecturers embarked on an indefinite strike over unpaid salaries before suspending the action after discussions with the institution’s management.

According to ASUU, the delay in implementing the new pay structure is linked to practical challenges, including the slow passage of the 2026 national budget.

With the ultimatum now in effect, pressure is mounting on the government to act quickly and avert another disruption to academic activities across the country’s public universities.

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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned that it will resume its nationwide strike if an agreement is not reached with the Federal Government at the expiration of its one-month ultimatum.

ASUU Kano Zonal Coordinator Abdulkadir Muhammad gave the warning on Monday in Kano during a news conference after the zone’s meeting.

The lecturers in October suspended their warning strike with a month-long ultimatum to the Federal Government to meet their demands, which centred around their welfare and providing a conducive teaching and learning environment.

Muhammad decried what he described as a sluggish approach to renegotiating key agreements aimed at revitalising Nigeria’s public university system.

The meeting had representatives from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria; Bayero University Kano (BUK); and Kaduna State University (KASU).

Others were Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology (ADUSTECH), Wudil; Federal University Dutse (FUD); Northwest University (NWU), Kano; and Sule Lamido University (SLUK), Kafin Hausa.

Muhammad said this followed the report presented at ASUU’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on Nov. 8 and 9 at Taraba State University.

He said NEC expressed dissatisfaction with the slow pace of the ongoing renegotiation between the union and the government, describing it as a major obstacle to concluding the process meaningfully.

He said the suspension of the strike in October was meant to create an enabling environment and a gesture of goodwill toward Nigerians.

“However, our hope for a holistic and timely resolution of the issues is increasingly being dashed.

“It is unfortunate that some government functionaries employ different tactics to undermine the renegotiation process and misinform the public on the state of our engagements,” he told newsmen.

He said that the government had yet to show genuine commitment to improving lecturers’ welfare or addressing the conditions that fuel brain drain in the university system.

“What government has offered will neither improve the working conditions of academics nor attract scholars from other countries to our universities,” he said.

According to him, it is unfortunate that some government officials claim that ASUU demands have been met.

He urged the Federal Government to place a moratorium on the establishment of state universities, as it did for federal universities.

“Governors have cultivated the habit of establishing universities in their states without commitment to funding them,” he said. (NAN)

Meanwhile, ASUU also declared on its social media handle, X (formerly Twitter) that all universities in the country would be shutdown from Friday.

“ALL UNIVERSITY (Sic) WILL BE CLOSED NATIONWIDE TILL FURTHER NOTICE ON FRIDAY!” – it said.

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As the two-week nationwide strike declared by the national body of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) starts this Monday, the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) branch of the union will today hold an emergency mandatory congress for its members.

The congress which will hold at the ESUT College of Medicine Auditorium, Enugu is expected to start by 2pm with all members of the union directed to be in attendance.

According a circular issued by the Acting Chairperson of the ASUU ESUT Branch, Dr Andrew Apeh, while stating that attendance is mandatory to all members, said the agenda of the congress will be “Beyond the 14-Day Rubicon: Defining the Next Steps.

“All members are expected to attend this emergency congress as the 14-Day ultimatum elapses! Your presence is mandatory!”

 It could be recalled that the leadership of ASUU on Sunday directed all its branches across the nation to commence a two-week comprehensive warning strike beginning from Monday, October 13.

ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, announced this at a press briefing at the headquarters of the union in University of Abuja.

Piwuna said the decision to begin total warning strike became imperative after the government failed to do the needful regarding its demands.

“Compatriots of the press, it goes without saying that there is nothing sufficient on ground to stop the implementation of the ASUU-NEC’s resolution to embark on a two-week warning strike at the expiry of the 14-day notice given on the 28th September 2025.”

 “Consequently, all branches of ASUU are hereby directed to withdraw their services with effect from midnight on Monday, the 13th October, 2025.

“The warning strike shall be total and comprehensive as agreed at the last NEC meeting,” Piwuna said.

ASUU ESUT Branch emergency Congress today is expected reach a resolution on whether the branch will join the strike or not.

ESUT Monitor will keep you updated on the outcome of the congress.

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The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has announced that it has directed all its branches nationwide to suspend their services due to the delay in the payment of June 2025 salaries.

The union cited the implementation of its “No Pay, No Work” resolution as the reason for this action.

ASUU branches at two federal universities- the University of Jos and the University of Abuja have already begun strike in line with the directive.

ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, confirmed the development to Tribune Online on Monday in Abuja, explaining that the institutions awere merely implementing a resolution by the union’s National Executive Council (NEC), which mandates that if salaries were delayed by more than three days in any month, members should suspend their services until the payments were made.

Piwuna criticized the indifferent attitude of government officials toward the matter of lecturers’ salaries, which he described as meager.

He noted that ever since university workers were moved from the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS) to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), union members have faced considerable hardship as a result of delayed salary payments.

He revealed that the union’s leadership had engaged with key government officials, including the Minister of Education and the Accountant General of the Federation, but these efforts yielded no positive outcome. Consequently, the ASUU NEC decided to implement the “No Pay, No Work” policy.

He said: “What they are doing is just enforcing a NEC resolution. We have agreed at NEC that our members are going through a lot since our migration out of the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System. Certainly, our salaries are delayed for a week and sometimes 10 days before our members receive the paltry amount we get to help us carry out our duties well.

“Therefore, we agreed that if there is no pay, there will be no work,” Piwuna said.

On whether other universities are joining the strike, the ASUU President said all institutions that have not been paid are expected to withdraw their services, insisting that this was the resolution at NEC and the only way to address the challenge, which he noted was being deliberately caused by some government officials, especially at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

He stated that any institution yet to receive its payment would also join the action, emphasizing, “we are tired of repeatedly addressing this issue.”

“We have spoken to the relevant authorities—the minister is aware, the Office of the Accountant General is aware. All those concerned are aware that this thing has been happening.

“We’ve had meetings with them to express our dissatisfaction with the way our salaries are being paid, and they have not taken any action. We want to work, but we cannot because they have not allowed us to work,” he stated.

Piwuna insisted that the government has no valid excuse for the salary payment delays, pointing out that there are no problems with the payment platform being used.

He explained that once the funds eventually reach the universities, there have been no complaints of underpayment or non-payment. “This means the payment platform itself is not the issue. The delay is simply a deliberate act by the Office of the Accountant General to hold back the release of the funds,” he said.

“The platform is working well, but those who make it work are not willing to make it work. We think it’s a deliberate act; that is the point we are making,” the ASUU President added.

He, however, pointed out that while salary delays are the union members’ most pressing concern at the moment, the government must also urgently release the outstanding N10 billion in Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) to prevent another round of industrial action.

He pointed out that although the Federal Government was obligated to pay lecturers N50 billion in outstanding Earned Academic Allowance (EAA), it has so far released only N40 billion, leaving an unpaid balance of N10 billion.

“On the EAA you talked about, the total amount was N50 billion, and what they gave to us is N40 billion. N10 billion is still outstanding. We hope that this is paid quickly so that we do not have to fight over it,” the ASUU President said.

Jurbe Molwus, Chairman of the ASUU branch at the University of Jos, announced that union members at the institution had withdrawn their services due to the delay in receiving their June 2025 salaries.

Molwus said this followed the National Executive Council resolution directing branches to take action when salaries are not paid by the third day of a new month, and the congress affirming the position. He said union members have abstained from lectures and statutory meetings.

The chairman added that whenever salaries are not paid by the third day of the month, lecturers would continue to withdraw their services until the payments are made.

He also said the strike monitoring team of the branch had been activated to ensure compliance.

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The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU – the umbrella body of the teaching staff of Nigerian public universities – has threatened a nationwide strike next week should the federal government fails to yield to their recent demands

The union hinged it latest threat on the failure of the Federal Government to appoint Governing Councils for Federal Universities in the country. There are 111 federal universities across the federation.

Speaking in a media chat, President of the union, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke noted that it has given the Tinubu-led government enough time to correct the errors.

Osodeke noted that the union was also concerned over the failure of the Federal Government to appoint members of Governing Councils for Federal owned universities stressing that the dissolution of the governing councils was illegal as it was against the principles guiding the existing universities.

The union also faulted what it described as the nonchalant attitude of the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government to matters pertaining to academics in Nigerian Federal Universities.

During the press briefing at the University of Abuja, ASUU also faulted the 35 per cent salary increment for professors and the 25 per cent salary increment for other academics in the university system.

The body said it saw the increment as a wage award that could be withdrawn by the government anytime it deems fit.

It could be recalled that the National Universities Commission had, on June 22, 2023, announced the dissolution of governing councils of all federal universities and boards of other agencies and parastatals in the country.

The NUC directive was based on a similar one three days earlier by President Bola Tinubu ordering the dissolution of the boards of all government parastatals, agencies and companies.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, says it will reconvene in two weeks for the next line of action, should its demands remain unattended to.

ASUU is demanding immediate reconstitution of university governing boards, stoppage of alleged illegalities and violations of university autonomy, and payment of the minimum wage.

At a press briefing in Abuja, ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, said it rejects the unhealthy face-off with union leaders by vice chancellors.

A few federal university branches of ASUU are currently on strike, following moves by their vice-chancellors to elect their successors, without governing boards, which are mandated for that.

Although the federal government immediately reconstituted the boards of the governing councils of the 111 universities with 555 members, it remains to be seen if ASUU would go ahead with the proposed strike when the union meets next week.

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