ASUU Strike Update: Latest Negotiations with FG on University Resumption
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has provided an update on its ongoing negotiations with the Federal Government over long-standing unresolved issues that have repeatedly plunged Nigeria’s public university system into crisis over the years.
The union said it is still negotiating with the Federal Government but hopes the discussions will conclude soon, even as the one-month window given to the government to address members’ concerns—or face an indefinite strike, draws closer.
The President of the union, Prof. Christopher Piwuna, who gave the update, did not go into details about where both parties stand on each of the contentious issues, except for salaries.
He spoke during the Toyin Falola Interview tagged “Conversation with ASUU President”, held on Sunday night via Zoom and other social media platforms.
Over 1.2 million people from no fewer than 27 countries joined the conversation, which featured Prof. Toyin Falola as anchor and four other distinguished panelists: the National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr. Joe Ajaero; Prof. Sheriffdeen Tella; Prof. Francis Egbokhare; and Mrs. Grace Edema of The Punch Newspapers.
According to Piwuna, the leadership of the union is rounding off its national executive meeting in Taraba State, and the terms of the agreement with the government are taking shape. “We hope that in the next week or two, we’ll go back and be able to give a definite statement on what needs to be done,” he said.
“But what is very clear,” he added, “is that what the government is offering us as salary is not acceptable, and we are ready to go to any length to fight for fair compensation.”
He further explained that Nigeria’s public university system is still operating as though it were in the 17th century, not only in terms of salaries and conditions of service, but also in many other critical areas of need.
According to him, “Our salaries are insufficient, and public universities lack the endowments and infrastructure required for growth.
“Another issue is that wealthy individuals, including billionaires, have no interest in public university education. Instead, they invest only in private universities.
“Over the years, we have fought, negotiated, and gone on strike to achieve the little progress we have. Those small gains are not due to incompetence, they are the result of our struggle to resist government neglect.
“Our colleagues work tirelessly, often sleeping in their offices and bringing their families to campus, yet they cannot secure endowments or improve available resources.
“This is the reality we face daily, we are struggling to move our institutions forward under extremely difficult circumstances.”
Piwuna also highlighted reasons successive governments have failed to take ASUU’s struggles for public university education seriously.
“One major problem,” he said, “is that many government officials, ministers and chief executives across the country, do not view education as a personal concern. So, when ASUU declares or threatens a strike, the Minister of Finance sees it as the Education Minister’s problem; the Minister of Science and Technology views it as someone else’s issue, and so on. This mindset prevents a coordinated response.
“If the Minister of Finance understood that education is critical to manpower development for national progress, or if Science and Technology realized that research institutions cannot thrive without well-trained graduates, they would treat the Education Minister’s challenges as their own. But at the moment, other arms of government leave it solely to the Education Ministry to resolve, one reason why solutions have never been forthcoming.
“The problem is also ideological. We in ASUU view education as a public good essential for national development. But many government officials see it through a capitalistic lens, if it does not generate profit, it is not prioritized. That is why some prominent Nigerians now advocate that hedge funds should support private universities where they have vested interests, rather than public education.
“Another factor is self-interest. Some officials prioritize personal gain and contract inflation over meaningful investment in education. Funds meant for development, such as TETFUND allocations, have become marketplaces for profit rather than tools for improving universities.”
Speaking earlier, Prof. Toyin Falola, a renowned historian and the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin, said the aim of the conversation was to find a workable and lasting solution to the perennial problems plaguing Nigeria’s public education system and that of other African countries.
He noted that Nigeria’s educational challenges mirror those of many African nations, stressing the urgent need for collective efforts to address them and make the continent a better place for all.