The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has said the appeal of the Federal Government asking the union to suspend its proposed warning strike came a little too late.
On Wednesday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu reportedly directed that all necessary steps be taken to prevent another disruption in the nation’s tertiary institutions as ASUU’s ultimatum draws to a close.
Addressing a news conference in Abuja, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said the Federal Government is already looking into the demands of the Union and progress is already being made in the ongoing negotiations between both parties.
The Minister explained that the Mahmud Yayale Ahmed Federal Government Tertiary Institutions Expanded Negotiation Committee had been reconstituted and inaugurated to fast-track talks with both academic and non-academic unions in universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
He added that President Tinubu had given clear directives that all efforts must be made to avoid another disruption in the nation’s tertiary institutions.
But ASUU President, Chris Piwuna, during an interview on Channels Television’s Morning Brief, on Thursday, maintained that the government’s last-minute appeal to stop the planned action came “a little too late.”
“The problem we have with this government and the leadership in the Ministry of Education is that they are slow. They are slow in responding to our demands,” Piwuna said.
According to him, despite several meetings and letters exchanged between the union and the education ministry, the government failed to act within the agreed timeline.
“They gave us three weeks. We went for a meeting in Sokoto, and at that time, we were about to embark on the strike action. They gave us three weeks. We accepted the three weeks. We never heard a word from them until the three weeks elapsed,” he explained.
Piwuna said the government only reached out when ASUU threatened to begin industrial action, adding that the lack of timely engagement has become a recurring challenge.
“Not a word from them, courtesy to even say, ‘gentlemen, we think we’re running short, we are unable to meet with you on so-so date,’ nothing — until we threatened action. And yesterday, they are appealing to us not to embark on an action,” he said.
ASUU earlier issued a 14-day ultimatum that expires on October 13, 2025, after which it intends to commence a two-week warning strike.
The strike, it said, is primarily to compel the government to sign and implement the renegotiated 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement.
The agreement outlines the federal government’s commitments to significantly fund public universities for revitalisation, enhance the working conditions for academic staff, and ensure university autonomy.
As of May 2025, ASUU was still threatening nationwide industrial action because those bilateral commitments remained unresolved. The union members staged nationwide university protests in August across multiple universities, underlining the frustration felt by lecturers.
