Tinubu Has Laid Foundation to End Lecturers’ Strikes, Says Aide

Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor 

The Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Protocol, Issah Niniola, has said the President has laid a solid foundation to permanently end the incessant strikes by lecturers in tertiary institutions across the country, declaring that Nigerians will no longer experience the disruptions that have plagued the university system for decades.

Niniola made the declaration on Monday in Oba-Oke, Olorunda Local Government Area of Osun State, during the distribution of educational materials to pupils and students through his foundation, the Issah Adedotun Foundation. “Currently, we can assure you that there will not be strikes again because of what the President has done,” Niniola said. “He has laid the foundation to stop strikes forever in the country”. He said that although the education system in Nigeria was still a work in progress, the President was determined to do everything possible to place it on a solid foundation. He cited the Nigerian Education Loan Fund as a key intervention ensuring that students received quality education, while the government was also providing the necessary allowances for lecturers in tertiary institutions.

The aide said the President’s commitment to education was one of the reasons Nigerians should support his bid for a second term. “He will do more in education and other sectors,” he said. Niniola, who said he had been distributing free educational materials to pupils and students for the past 25 years, stressed the importance of primary and secondary education in laying a solid academic foundation. He urged the students to shun truancy, drug abuse and cultism, describing them as destroyers of destiny. “I graduated from one of the primary schools here that is present today, and I never knew I could become who I am today. You also can be great, irrespective of where you are and who you are,” he said. The event also featured a presentation by the NDLEA Deputy State Commander for Drug Demand Reduction and Sensitisation, Mrs Toyin Adegoke, who urged the pupils and students to shun drug abuse and cultism.

Niniola’s declaration echoed a position the Presidency has advanced consistently since Tinubu assumed office in May 2023. In January 2026, Dada Olusegun, a Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, said the Academic Staff Union of Universities had embarked on strike only once since 2023, a warning strike that lasted nine days, attributing the development to deliberate government interventions. Olusegun said the renegotiation of the 2009 agreements had helped the government place “a final nail on the coffin of ASUU strikes”. The Presidency has repeatedly pointed to the signing of the landmark agreement between the Federal Government and ASUU on January 14, 2026, which effectively ended a 16-year implementation stalemate surrounding the contentious 2009 pact on the service conditions of public tertiary school lecturers.

The agreement, which took effect from January 1, 2026, included a 40 per cent upward review of the emoluments of university academic staff, a new Professorial Cadre Allowance providing a monthly top-up of over ₦140,000 for professors and ₦70,000 for readers, and a mandatory three-year review cycle to prevent the stagnation that had characterised previous agreements. The government also exempted federal tertiary institutions from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, allowing universities to process their own payrolls and enhancing their autonomy.

The administration has also pointed to financial interventions as evidence of its commitment. A total of ₦150 billion was allocated in the 2025 budget for university revitalisation, with the allocation to be released in three tranches of ₦50 billion each, while ₦50 billion was released for earned academic allowances. In August 2026, the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation announced that the government had commenced the implementation of the ASUU agreements on salary increase and consolidated tools allowance, reaffirming Tinubu’s commitment to the well-being of academic staff and the stability of the university system.

The NELFUND programme has also been positioned as a central pillar of the administration’s education agenda. The fund has disbursed a total of N355.87 billion in student loans since the launch of its portal in May 2024, processing 1,659,853 applications, with 319 beneficiary institutions receiving N192.89 billion as institutional fees and students receiving N162.98 billion as upkeep allowances. President Tinubu has directed that all unencumbered liquid funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission be transferred to NELFUND to support the long-term financing of student loans, a move the government says will ensure the scheme’s sustainability.

However, the Presidency’s claims have not gone unchallenged. In September 2026, ASUU threatened a fresh nationwide strike over unpaid salaries and the non-implementation of the 2025 agreement. The union acknowledged that the Tinubu administration had paid four of the 7.5 months of salaries withheld during the Buhari administration but demanded the immediate release of the outstanding 3.5 months. ASUU also raised concerns over the non-implementation of the newly signed agreement, particularly the 40 per cent salary increase, which it said had been delayed by universities. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar seized on the renewed strike threat to question the government’s claims, asking the Tinubu administration to account for the money it said it saved from subsidy removal to fund education and other services. Atiku said the renewed threat of an ASUU strike had exposed what he described as a contradiction between the government’s claims of increased revenues and the condition of the country’s public universities.

The political context of Niniola’s declaration is unmistakable. The 2027 general elections are less than four months away, with the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, and the governorship and state assembly elections for February 6. President Tinubu is seeking a second term on the All Progressives Congress platform, while former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress and former Anambra Governor Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress are among the major challengers. Education, and particularly the stability of the university system, has become a significant campaign issue, with the government presenting its record as evidence of progress and the opposition pointing to unresolved grievances and delayed implementation.

For Nigerian students and their families, the promise of an end to strikes is among the most consequential commitments any government can make. The years of disruption caused by ASUU strikes have delayed graduations, strained family finances and eroded confidence in the public university system. Whether the foundation Niniola speaks of proves solid enough to withstand the pressures that have historically triggered industrial action will be determined not by declarations but by the sustained implementation of agreements, the timely payment of salaries and allowances, and the willingness of both government and the academic union to resolve disputes through dialogue rather than confrontation. As Niniola put it, the President has laid the foundation to stop strikes forever. The test now is whether that foundation holds.

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