The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to resume industrial action, accusing the Federal and state governments of failing to faithfully implement the December 2025 FGN-ASUU agreement reached after nearly eight years of negotiations.
The threat followed a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at Modibbo Adama University, Yola, where the union accused the Federal Government of reneging on critical aspects of the landmark agreement signed in January 2026.
Addressing journalists after the meeting, ASUU president Prof. Christopher Piwuna said the momentum generated by the agreement was “fast waning” due to the government’s failure to implement key welfare and funding provisions.
“The increasing frustration occasioned by the seeming government’s disinterestedness in the welfare of Nigerian academics is brewing a pent-up anger which could erupt into a new wave of industrial unrest if not addressed,” the union warned.
Piwuna faulted the Federal Government’s failure to inaugurate the Implementation Monitoring Committee, which was meant to oversee execution of the agreement and prevent bureaucratic bottlenecks. He added that federal university administrators had been selectively implementing aspects of the deal, particularly on academic allowances, while several state governments had refused to implement the salary components despite participating in negotiations.
ASUU also criticised the Federal Government’s proposed National Research and Innovation Development Fund, saying it was introduced without union input and did not align with the research funding framework in the 2025 agreement. Piwuna questioned the rationale behind the proposed $500 million funding model, insisting the original agreement clearly outlined sustainable local funding sources.
“ASUU will stop at nothing to ensure that all our members fully benefit from the modest gains of the eight-year long negotiation (2017–2025),” he said.
On welfare, the union accused the government of abandoning unresolved entitlements including arrears of the 25–35 per cent salary award, promotion arrears, withheld salaries from the 2022 strike, pension remittances, and salary shortfalls linked to the IPPIS platform. It described the continued delay as inhuman, particularly for retired academics whose pensions and benefits remain unpaid.
The union called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene to preserve industrial peace in public universities.
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ASUU strongly rejected the government’s plan to establish a Coventry University campus in Nigeria under the Transnational Education framework, describing it as a neo-colonial agenda that could further weaken the country’s university system. It argued that the government should instead focus on making Nigerian universities globally competitive.
The union also opposed the compulsory enrolment of academics in the Nigeria Education Repository Databank, warning the policy could violate data privacy rights and undermine institutional autonomy, and criticised proposals to scrap certain university courses, insisting that humanities and social sciences remain essential to national development.
ASUU raised concerns over an attempt by the Niger State Government to reclaim the Bosso campus of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, describing the move as capable of setting a dangerous precedent for higher education.
The union’s NEC said it would reconvene in the coming weeks to review the situation and determine its next line of action.
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