Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities has issued its most direct and uncompromising warning since suspending its last nationwide strike, telling the Federal Government and state governments that it will not hesitate to call out its members again if the outstanding issues crippling the university system are not urgently resolved. The warning, contained in a memo released on Friday, September 11, 2026, followed an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council held on September 5 at its Festus Iyayi National Secretariat at the University of Abuja. ASUU President Professor Christopher Piwuna made it clear that the union would not accept any blame for the consequences of another industrial action if the government continues what he described as its “lip service” to the demands of Nigerian academics.
At the heart of the dispute is the December 2025 Federal Government-ASUU Agreement, which the union says was the product of more than eight years of negotiations and industrial struggles but has been implemented only partially. The agreement covered salary adjustments, allowances, and conditions of service for university lecturers, and was signed with the expectation that it would bring an end to the cycle of strikes that has plagued Nigeria’s public universities for decades. However, ASUU says the government has failed to fully domesticate the agreement at the state level, leaving lecturers in many states without the benefits they were promised. The union acknowledged that some states, including Abia, Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina, and Borno, have begun implementation, and that Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe, and Bayelsa have pledged to commence in September or October. But it warned that the failure of other states to act could plunge their universities into what it described as an “industrial crisis of monumental proportions.”
The second major grievance is the non-payment of three-and-a-half months of salaries withheld from lecturers during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari. ASUU acknowledged that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has paid four of the seven-and-a-half months withheld, but insisted that the remaining balance must be released immediately. The union pointed out that the withheld salaries have lost more than fifty per cent of their value since 2022 due to the devaluation of the naira and rising inflation, subjecting lecturers to enormous financial and psychological hardship. “Our members have endured enormous financial and psychological discomforts on account of the withheld income,” the union said, adding that some lecturers lost their lives during the period the salaries were withheld, while many are now managing life-threatening ailments. The union’s message was blunt: the money is owed, it is long overdue, and there is no justification for continuing to withhold it.
The third issue is the non-remittance of billions of naira in third-party deductions, including pension contributions, staff cooperative funds, and ASUU check-off dues. The union alleged that these deductions have been made from lecturers’ salaries for several months without being remitted to the appropriate accounts, describing the situation as a double financial loss for its members. It suggested that the failure to remit the deductions could be linked to the union’s rejection of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, a payment platform that ASUU has long opposed. The union warned that it is fully prepared to call out its members if nothing concrete is done to address this lingering problem without further delay.
Beyond the financial grievances, ASUU also expressed frustration over what it described as the violation of university autonomy and laws. The union cited the recent decision by Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke to extend the tenure of the Vice-Chancellor of Osun State University, Professor Clement Adebooye, by two years, describing the action as unacceptable. ASUU argued that the UNIOSUN law provides for a single five-year tenure for the vice-chancellor with no provision for extension, and accused the governor of hurriedly amending the law to accommodate the extension. The union warned that the development could undermine the gains of the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2012, which was designed to prevent controversies surrounding tenure extensions for vice-chancellors. It also criticised Professor Adebooye for accepting the extension, noting that he had previously served as a branch secretary of ASUU at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and urged him to reconsider his position before the expiration of his legally valid tenure in January 2027.
The union’s frustration is compounded by what it describes as the declining condition of the academic profession. ASUU said lecturers are being forced into uncertainty every month over when and how much of their salaries will be paid, resulting in recurring disputes between academic staff and university authorities. It commended the Federal Ministry of Education for recent efforts to clear outstanding salaries owed to lecturers in some Federal Universities of Agriculture, but said there has been no sustainable attempt to resolve the broader crisis. The union also alleged that the situation has been worsened by the government’s failure to address the root causes of the problem, including the underfunding of universities and the erosion of academic freedom.
The warning from ASUU is not an idle threat. In recent months, several state-owned universities have already been shut down by industrial action. ASUU at Kaduna State University commenced an indefinite strike on September 7 over the non-domestication of the 2025 agreement. The union at Sule Lamido University in Jigawa State rejected the government’s latest offer and insisted on a two-week warning strike from September 15. ASUU at Abia State University, Adekunle Ajasin University, and other institutions have also taken industrial action over unpaid entitlements and unimplemented agreements. The Nigeria Labour Congress has threatened a strike in the FCT over teachers’ promotion grievances. The warning from ASUU-NEC is therefore not a rhetorical flourish. It is a signal that the patience of Nigerian academics has run out, and that another nationwide shutdown may be imminent if the government does not act. The union has made it clear that it will not accept any blame for the consequences. The question now is whether the government will heed the warning or wait until the universities go dark again.
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