The Federal Government has appealed to members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to shelve the proposed strike as the government is prepared to resolve all the lingering issues holistically.
Minister of Education, Dr Olatunji Alausa, made the appeal at a news conference held before the meeting of the high-level committee on FGN/ASUU 2025 proposed agreement on Wednesday 8 October 2025.
Dr. Alausa said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed that the ASUU proposed strike be averted, affirming the commitment and political will of the President to resolve all the contending issues that would be mutually acceptable and respectful to all the staff unions.
He said there was no basis for ASUU or any other staff unions in higer institutions to embark on industrial action, stressing that the directive of the President is clear, “strike must be averted for Nigerian children to be in school”.
Recall that ASUU, last week, issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to meet its demands or face industrial action.
The decision was reached at the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on September 28 at the University of Abuja
Some of the demands of ASUU include the re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, sustainable funding and revitalisation of universities, an end to the victimisation of ASUU members at Lagos State University (LASU), Kogi State University (now Prince Abubakar Audu University), and the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), among others.
Also see: Oil & Gas Community in Rivers Protest Against Alleged Injustice, Environmental Degradation
The Minister noted that the meeting on the ASUU proposed strike was a technical working group to finalise components of the condition of service for university workers and a counteroffer to ASUU.
He disclosed that by Thursday 9 October 2025, the Yayale Ahmed-led Federal Government Tertiary Institutions Expanded Negotiating Committee would meet with the leadership of ASUU to present the government’s offer to them.
Dr. Alausa revealed that the committee has reached out to ASUU and other unions in tertiary institutions to start giving dates and times when they will meet.
