“The struggle continues,” says Prof. Piwuna
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has suspended its two-week warning strike, giving the Federal Government a one-month window to conclude the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and address other unresolved issues affecting Nigeria’s university system.
President of the union, Prof. Chris Piwuna, announced the decision on Wednesday during a press briefing in Abuja, following what he described as “fruitful engagements” with government representatives and key interventions from the National Assembly.
Background: Why ASUU Downed Tools
ASUU had on October 13, 2025, declared a two-week warning strike over what it termed the government’s failure to respond to repeated appeals to address the lingering renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and welfare-related demands of lecturers.
“When we gathered here about 10 days ago to painfully declare a warning strike, it was a decision that left us with no other choice. The government had ignored our repeated overtures to address issues critical to the survival of Nigeria’s public universities,” Piwuna said.
He noted that the strike was meant to draw attention to issues including the delayed conclusion of the renegotiated 2009 agreement, payment of withheld salaries, revitalisation of public universities, and restoration of university autonomy.
Negotiations Yield Progress
Following the commencement of the strike, the Federal Government re-engaged the union through a team led by Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, which held meetings with ASUU representatives on October 16 and 18 to discuss the government’s response to the draft renegotiated agreement.
According to Piwuna, although the meetings did not fully resolve all the issues, the union acknowledged significant progress compared to the pre-strike period.
“We have not achieved all our objectives, but we are certainly not where we were before the strike began. This shows that had the government responded earlier, there would have been no need for the action,” he said.
He also commended the Senate Committees on Tertiary Education and TETFund, and Labour, as well as the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, for mediating between the union and the government, noting that their intervention “rekindled hope for a lasting resolution.”
At its emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held between October 21 and 22, 2025, ASUU reviewed the outcome of discussions and concluded that the warning strike had achieved part of its goal by compelling the government to return to the negotiation table.
“While noting that more work remains to be done, NEC resolved to suspend the warning strike to allow for a conducive atmosphere for further engagement,” Piwuna announced.
One-Month Ultimatum and the Road Ahead
ASUU warned that the suspension was temporary and conditional, giving the government a one-month window to conclude all pending issues or risk another round of industrial action.
The union president stated that the decision to suspend the strike was taken out of respect for students, parents, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and other well-meaning Nigerians who had shown solidarity and appealed for dialogue.
However, he cautioned that the union would not hesitate to resume the strike if the government failed to act within the agreed timeframe.
“The struggle continues,” Piwuna declared. “We call on patriotic Nigerians to prevail on the government to honour its commitments to guarantee industrial harmony and ensure stability in the academic calendar.”
Outlook
The suspension offers a brief reprieve for students and parents who have endured repeated disruptions in the nation’s higher education sector. However, stakeholders remain cautious, as previous agreements between ASUU and the government have often ended in deadlock.
Observers say the coming weeks will determine whether the latest truce marks a genuine step toward restoring confidence in Nigeria’s public university system — or merely another pause in a long-running cycle of strikes and negotiations.