Gideon Maxwell
October 13, 2025
The Federal Government has condemned the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), stating that the union ignored all demands that had already been met and evaded further negotiations before proceeding with the industrial action.
Dr Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education, made the statement during a live Monday morning interview on Channels TV, providing a detailed account of government efforts to prevent disruption in Nigeria’s universities.
He also appealed to ASUU to call off the strike, reiterating that all union demands had been addressed.
“This strike should not have gone on at all. Let me reassure our students nationwide that the Federal Government of Nigeria, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will do everything humanly possible to keep you in school. And let me also reassure the parents of our students that we are doing everything humanly possible to keep your children in school. This is the responsibility of this government,” Dr Alausa said.
He added: “Today, I am going to use this medium to plead with ASUU again to shelve this strike. There’s literally no need for this strike. I can tell you today, literally all the demands of ASUU have been met. So I do not see any reason why ASUU has gone on this strike.”
Dr Alausa emphasised the government’s proactive engagement over the last two years, noting that there had not been a single ASUU strike during that period.
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“This is not a coincidence, but active, proactive engagement by the government. Over the last 24 hours, myself and the Vice Chairman of the Federal Government Tertiary Negotiation Committee were on the phone, talking to ASUU,” Alsusa said.
He detailed the specific areas addressed by the government. On the end-of-academic-year allowance, he said: “We have paid N50 billion. The President approved this payment months ago. The issue with the academic allowance was that ASUU did not want it mainstreamed as part of their salary, which would have been the best approach. We have now resolved this.”
On postgraduate supervision allowances, Dr Alausa explained, “These are paid by the institutions and I have been told that they are being paid.”
Regarding the long-standing needs assessment funds, he said, “This was negotiated almost 20 years ago. This government met those liabilities. The President approved N150 billion in the 2026 budget, of which N50 billion has already been released. The first tranche is sitting in the needs assessment account.”
On promotion allowances and wage adjustments, he clarified: “Promotion areas will be paid with the 2026 budget, which is appropriated. Universities will be allowed to accrue the last three months, October, November, December, with the 2026 budget going forward, including the 225/35 wage award. All public service servants have not yet been paid this, but it will be paid in 2026. These were the low-earning requests, which have been completely addressed.”
Addressing the broader issues of condition of service and welfare, Dr Alausa highlighted a high-level technical working group comprising the Ministers of Education, Labour, and Justice, the Chairman of the Salary and Wages Commission, the DG Budget Office, the Accountant General’s Office, and other key officials.
“We went line by line on all their requests based on their condition of service, finalized the review, and presented the government’s counter-response,” he said.
He further revealed a major initiative to improve welfare for teachers nationwide: “The President approved a new line item called Teachers Welfare to address the Academic Staff Union’s welfare package. This will cascade to all teachers in the country as we move along. The President graciously approved robust allowances for teachers, and we modeled this out and presented it at the meeting on Friday.”
Dr Alausa said that the government had presented everything ASUU requested regarding welfare and conditions of service during Friday’s meeting.
“They promised us they would get back to us within 24 hours. We waited until Saturday afternoon but received no response. Secretly, the Vice Chairman of the negotiation committee continued to reach out to them. On Sunday evening, just before 5:00 p.m., the ASUU president finally responded to the Vice Chairman.”
He concluded with a renewed appeal: “I am using this medium to plead with ASUU again to shelve this strike. There is literally no need for this strike. We have addressed every single issue, and it is time to return our students to the classrooms.”
The ongoing strike continues to disrupt academic activities across federal universities in Nigeria, threatening the academic calendar and raising concerns among parents and students nationwide.
