President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, has clarified why the union has refrained from declaring a nationwide strike despite unresolved issues with the Federal Government.
The Guardian reports that in 2024, various ASUU chapters—including ASUU in Bayelsa State-owned Niger Delta University, Lagos State University (LASU), Bauchi’s Sa’adu Zungur University (SAZU), Gombe State University (GSU), University of Abuja, among others—declared strike actions on issues bordering on the welfare of the lecturers.
However, the national body of ASUU had refrained from declaring total strike action in public universities across the country in 2024 over the FG’s failure to address lingering issues affecting university lecturers nationwide.
Though, the Guardian further reports, that ASUU, through its President, Prof Osodeke, in a circular on June 3, 2024, asked members of the union to join the minimum wage strike declared by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The circular read: “The NLC has declared an indefinite strike action beginning from Monday [3 June 2024], as a result of the failure of the government to conclude the renegotiation of [the] minimum wage for Nigerian workers and [the] reversal of [a] hike in [the] electricity tariff.
“Our branches are hereby enjoined to join in the strike action as an affiliate member of [Nigeria Labour] Congress. Consequently, branch chairpersons are to mobilise all members to participate in the strike action.”
But speaking on the state of education in Nigeria in a recent interview with a Nigerian daily, Tribune, Osodeke described 2024 as a “missed opportunity” for the government to address longstanding agreements with ASUU.
He noted that the union has exercised patience by giving the government ample time to resolve issues, including withheld salaries, unpaid allowances, and funding for education.
He added that the Nigerian lecturers’s national body has not “changed our mind and it was not a threat as we really wanted to go on strike. It is only that we want Nigerians to know and understand that ASUU does not just declare nationwide strike but only when it has been pushed to the wall.”
Continuing Prof Osodeke said, “Now, we have given government a notice of strike and extended it many times just to give it more time and opportunity to address the issues so that we all can enjoy uninterrupted academic activities in our universities. But government has not made good use of the opportunity. So, what do Nigerians want ASUU to do then?”
On the renegotiation committee set up by the Federal Government, Osodeke said while the union had concluded discussions, the government had yet to implement agreed resolutions.
He highlighted unresolved issues, such as unpaid earned allowances, the delayed release of revitalisation funds, and continued reliance on the controversial IPPIS payment platform.
Osodeke criticized the government’s focus on student loans over grants, calling it a misplaced priority that burdens students instead of supporting them. He also rejected plans to replace TETFUND with NELFUND, stressing the critical role TETFUND plays in sustaining public tertiary institutions.
While expressing scepticism about improvements in 2025, Osodeke warned that if the government fails to act decisively by January, ASUU may have no choice but to declare a nationwide strike.
“We don’t know of any other option. As I had said, we have done all that is expected of us to do as a union. We have exhausted all the known methods we should go through as a union and also exercise patience enough while the government is not bothered.
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