The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has declared Tuesday, August 26, 2025, as a day of protest across university campuses in Nigeria to express its dissatisfaction with what it described as the federal government’s persistent neglect of lecturers’ welfare and working conditions.
The announcement via ASUU’s official Facebook page on Saturday read:
“Tuesday, 26th August 2025, has been declared a day of protest across all campuses to express our strong dissatisfaction with the government’s persistent neglect of our demands.”
This comes against the backdrop of earlier warnings by ASUU leadership under its President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna. In a press release issued on August 8, titled “Act Now to Avert the Looming Crisis,” the union reminded both federal and state governments of the urgent need to address lecturers’ outstanding arrears, poor working conditions, and the stalled renegotiation of the 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement.
While the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, recently assured that strikes were a thing of the past, ASUU noted that the optimism was misplaced without concrete action. “Reports from campuses show that lecturers in Nigerian public universities are struggling. They teach on empty stomachs, research in poorly equipped libraries and laboratories, and work under severe personal and professional hardships,” the union stated.
ASUU accused successive governments of failing to honour agreements, warning that neglect of collective bargaining principles under ILO Conventions 98 and 154 has created deep distrust. It also condemned the promotion of the corruption-prone Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), non-payment of earned allowances, politicisation of vice-chancellor appointments, and withholding of salaries for lecturers who participated in past strikes.
At a separate press conference held by the Ibadan Zone of ASUU, Zonal Coordinator Prof. Biodun Olaniran reiterated the union’s grievances, listing unresolved issues such as the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, revitalisation funding, salary arrears, unpaid promotions for over four years, and the government’s refusal to sign the draft agreement reached with the Prof. Nimi Briggs Committee since 2021.
“A true test of the government’s sincerity now lies in how it handles the Alhaji Yayale Ahmed report, submitted since February 2025, which encapsulates all contentious issues and reflects a consensus with our union,” Olaniran said. He warned that ASUU members were no longer willing to be dragged along by what he described as government’s “keep them talking” tactics.
The Ibadan zone, which comprises the University of Ibadan, University of Ilorin, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Osun State University, Kwara State University, and Emmanuel Alayande University of Education, also condemned the “inhuman treatment” of ASUU members at LASU, Prince Abubakar Audu University, Kogi, and the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, where salaries were allegedly withheld.
ASUU further lamented that despite the sacrifices of Nigerian academics, university staff have endured 16 years of salary stagnation, underfunded research, and poor infrastructure, even as no Nigerian university ranks among the top 1,000 globally.
The union called on Nigerians to prevail on the government to act decisively, warning that only a proper collective bargaining agreement that addresses welfare and conditions of service will prevent another full-blown industrial crisis.
