The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has declared a two-week total and comprehensive warning strike across all public universities in Nigeria.
The announcement was made on Sunday by ASUU National President, Professor Chris Piwuna, during a press conference at the University of Abuja.
Piwuna said the union had no choice but to proceed with the industrial action following the expiration of its 14-day ultimatum issued to the Federal Government on September 28, 2025, without any meaningful response to its demands.
“There has been no meaningful progress to prevent the union from moving forward with its planned industrial action,” he stated.
All ASUU branches nationwide have been directed to commence a total withdrawal of services from midnight on Monday, October 13, 2025, in line with the resolution reached at the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.
Background to the Strike
ASUU had, in its September ultimatum, decried the Federal Government’s neglect of the university system and failure to address lingering issues affecting the welfare of academics and funding of tertiary institutions.
“Both the federal and state governments have shown a consistent disregard for the education sector and the welfare of university academics,” the union said in its earlier statement.
Federal Government’s Response
In reaction, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, last week appealed to ASUU to shelve the planned strike, assuring that the government remained committed to addressing all outstanding issues.
He noted that the Mahmud Yayale Ahmed Tertiary Institutions Negotiation Committee had been reconstituted to fast-track dialogue with academic and non-academic unions in universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
Alausa added that President Bola Tinubu had directed all efforts toward avoiding another disruption in the tertiary education calendar.
ASUU’s Position
However, ASUU dismissed the government’s appeal as belated, accusing it of poor communication and lack of urgency.
“The government waited until just two working days before the strike to appeal to us,” Piwuna said. “Our 2009 agreement, which has been under renegotiation for eight years, remains unresolved. The appeal has come a little too late.”
The two-week warning strike, ASUU said, is intended to push the government to act decisively on the unresolved issues or risk a full-scale industrial action.
