The Academic Staff Union of Universities will start a two-week national warning strike on Monday, October 13, 2025, unless something chang...
.jpg "ASUU chapters organise Oct. 13 warning strike.")
The Academic Staff Union of Universities will start a two-week national warning strike on Monday, October 13, 2025, unless something changes at the last minute. This is to make the Federal Government listen to what they want.
This was in a memo called "Strike Bulletin One" that was sent to all offices. Our reporter got a copy of it on Monday in Abuja.
The union gave the Federal Government two weeks ago to fix the problems it still had, such as signing and enforcing the renegotiated 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement. The planned strike comes after that. In the new memo to branches, Prof. Chris Piwuna, the national president of ASUU, complained that the government had not responded to the union's demands in a serious way despite the ultimatum. "At its emergency meeting on September 28, 2025, the National Executive Council of our union looked at the results of the referendum held across all branches and decided to give the government 14 days to solve the problems spelt out in the negotiated document that had been sent to the government since February 20, 2025," Piwuna wrote.
It was also decided that the union would go on a two-week warning strike when the ultimatum ran out if the government didn't take reasonable and satisfactory steps to deal with the problems that were still there. The proposals were sent right away to the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Honourable Minister of Labour, and the Honourable Minister of Education. It has been a week since those agreements were made and sent to the right people In charge. ("I'm sorry to say that there has been no significant change that deserves to be reported.")
The head of ASUU thanked members for their patience during what he called "a tortuous negotiation" that has gone on for more than eight years. He also told them to stay strong and united.
As we move into the second and final week of the deadline, I want to thank you on behalf of NEC for your patience and understanding since the beginning of this tortuous negotiation process that has gone on for over eight years without a reason.
"The main goal of our current actions is still to force the government to sign and follow through on the renegotiated agreement document," they said. In the coming days, every member of our group needs to work together to make sure we stay united in our goals. No one should be left out of the fight for our well-being, to stop the "Japa syndrome," and to make the Nigerian university system more competitive on a world scale.
"We are strong when we plan, but weak when we stress!" As a group, our union has always worked in solidarity, and this time will be no different.
Piwuna told members that they should only follow orders from their branch chairs and urged them to be very strict about following union routes.
"Members should only listen to what their chairpersons say." "When members aren't sure what to do, they should talk to their chairpersons and zonal coordinators, and they should go to congress meetings regularly to find out what's going on," he said.
When asked about the government's reaction, Folasade Boriowo, a spokesman for the Ministry of Education, said that new information would be given "when available."
The group made its choice after the National Executive Council met at the University of Abuja on September 28, 2025. ASUU put out a statement at the end of the meeting that listed several problems that have been talked about for months but have not been resolved. Some of these are renegotiating the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, making sure that universities have stable funds for revitalisation, and stopping lecturers in some federal universities from being abused.
Some of the other things that are being asked for are the payment of 25–35 percent salary arrears, the resolution of promotion arrears that have been going on for over four years, and the resolution of third-party deduction problems.
The statement said, "ASUU as a union believes that the government has the power to stop this looming strike." On the same day, Monday, the National Association of Academic Technologists gave the Federal Government 14 days to follow through on important agreements made with the union. In a statement released after its October 4, 2025, National Executive Council meeting at the Federal University, Lafia, the union complained that the Ministry of Education, led by Dr. Tunji Alausa, had not held any meetings to address long-standing problems that affected its members.
The message, which was signed by Ibeji Nwokoma, the National President of NAAT, said that the NEC had looked over the progress made since the Minister of Labour and Employment called a conciliation meeting on July 30, 2025, where a Memorandum of Understanding was signed, and the Minister of Education held another meeting on September 11, 2025. One of the problems that people are fighting over is the fact that the FGN/NAAT 2009 Agreement renegotiation has not been finished yet. This agreement aims to change the salaries, allowances, and other working conditions in the Nigerian education system. Only the first meeting between the renegotiation group led by Mahmud Yayale Ahmed and NAAT on December 10, 2024, was held. So, hearing that a report was sent to the Federal Government without proper consultation with the union is very troubling, the communiqué said.
Another thing the union was worried about was the fact that academic technologists' salaries were not including earned allowances, which would have stopped more arrears from building up, and that the enabling circular for CONTISS 14 and 15 had not been released, which would have let members reach the peak of their careers. Finally, the recent delays in paying monthly salaries had made things very hard for members in light of the current economic situation. "Because of these things, the union is giving the government 14 days to meet these demands." The statement also said that NAAT is still willing to talk, but if they don't act within the given time frame, the union will have to call for a strike to make their point.
In the past, NAAT had asked for the mainstreaming of members' allowances, the release of N50 billion to settle unpaid earned allowances, and the end of the renegotiation process for the 2009 FGN/NAAT Agreement. The union also wanted the new national minimum wage to be adjusted in a way that would make sense, for three and a half months of salaries to be paid back, for third-party deductions to be stopped for the two months of salaries that were recently paid, and for seven and eleven months of occupational hazard and responsibility allowances to be paid back.