By Sabiu Abdullahi
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has handed the Federal Government a 14-day ultimatum to resolve long-standing issues affecting Nigeria’s university system.
The decision followed a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on Sunday at the University of Abuja.
In a statement signed by the union’s national president, Prof. Chris Piwuna, ASUU criticized what it described as government neglect and persistent refusal to meet its demands.
“At the National Executive Council meeting held at the University of Abuja on the 28th of September, 2025, the Union decried the neglect of the University system and the government’s consistent refusal to heed to its demands,” the statement read.
The union warned that failure by the Federal Government to take action within two weeks could force it to embark on industrial action.
“Accordingly, ASUU has given the Federal Government of Nigeria an Ultimatum of fourteen (14) days within which to address these issues. If at the end of the fourteen-day ultimatum, the Federal Government fails to address these issues, the Union may have no option but to, first, embark on a two-week warning strike and thereafter, a total and indefinite strike,” Prof. Piwuna said.
It will be recalled that the Federal Ministry of Education had set up a committee, chaired by the ministry’s permanent secretary Abel Enitan, to review ASUU’s proposals.
As of the time of this report, the committee has not communicated any outcome publicly.
ASUU’s major demands include the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, provision of revitalisation funds for universities, payment of outstanding salary arrears, and a sustainable system of funding tertiary education in Nigeria.