Nigeria’s powerful university lecturers’ union has threatened another nationwide strike unless authorities urgently address years of unpaid benefits, crumbling infrastructure and broken promises.
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) president Christopher Piwuna accused federal and state governments of abandoning commitments, saying academics “feel forgotten, shamed and demoralised by past and present governments.”
The warning followed Education Minister Dr Tunji Alausa’s vow that “not again ever… will ASUU or tertiary institutions… go on strike,” a claim the union dismissed, insisting that “the government needs to go beyond words and act.”
ASUU said lecturers are teaching “on empty stomachs,” unable to pay utility bills or children’s school fees, and lacking essential research resources such as books, chemicals and electronic journals.
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Piwuna accused officials of cherry-picking clauses from the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement and replacing genuine collective bargaining with “platitudes and tokenism.”
He also criticised schemes like the “Diaspora Bridge,” branding them hypocritical for treating academics as “volunteers” rather than professionals entitled to decent conditions.
The union raised alarm over political meddling in university governance, citing “contradictions” in the appointment of Alvan Ikoku University of Education’s Acting Vice Chancellor.
It reminded the government of a backlog of unimplemented Memoranda of Understanding and Action dating back to 2013, warning that “no memorandum or ‘discussion’ can take the place” of a binding deal.
“The time to act is now,” Piwuna urged, calling on “all genuine patriots” to pressure leaders into resolving the “lingering labour issues” before public universities grind to a halt.
