Regina Otokpa 
fg asuu
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to meet all unresolved demands or risk a 2-week warning strike, which might be followed by an indefinite strike.
The major demands put forward by the union were: renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, adequate revitalisation funds for universities, settlement of outstanding salary arrears, and sustainable funding mechanisms, third-party deductions, promotion arrears for over four years, victimisation of lecturers in LASU, KSU (now Prince Abubakar Audu University) and FUTO
A statement signed by the national president of ASUU, Prof. Chris Piwuna and made available to newsmen on Monday in Abuja, noted the decision was reached following a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on Sunday at the University of Abuja.
He said: “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.
“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.”
The union noted that despite various measures deployed to draw the government’s attention to the declining state of university education and its implications for the nation’s desire for transformative and lasting development, the government has shown unseriousness concerning the state of education, particularly the welfare of the university community.
“Nothing came out of all these rallies and pleas. What is clear for now is that both the Federal and State Governments have a strong habit of paying little or no attention to the education sector in general and the welfare of university academics in particular.
“It is over sixteen years now since ASUU has brought these issues to the media and the public domain. It means, therefore, that these issues are not new to you and the general public. For the past three months, ASUU has mentioned these issues at both the National, Zonal and Branch levels. For the past three months, these issues have been debated and combated in the media and other platforms.”
Piwuna added, “ASUU is confident that the Nigerian leadership has the capacity to fix Nigerian Universities once and for all. ASUU also believes strongly that the Nigerian government has the financial strength to tackle the problem of University education in Nigeria.
“We are therefore calling on all well-meaning Nigerian citizens, religious and traditional rulers, parents, students, and all other stakeholders in the education sector to press the Nigerian Government to turn its attention to Nigerian public universities.
“This time to do that is right now. There is this common logic that a pilot who hears an alarm of danger would refuse to fly so as to avoid a crash.
“The fourteen (14) days ultimatum, therefore, is an alarm to the Nigerian Government and ASUU as a Union, which believes that the Government has the muscle to avert this looming strike. As they say in English: A stitch in time saves nine.”
