ASUU threatens nationwide strike over FG’s inaction on 2009 agreement

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Akure Zone, on Monday, August 25, disclosed that it is mobilising members across the country for a nationwide rally scheduled for Tuesday, August 26, 2025.

According to the union, the move is part of ongoing efforts to pressure the Federal Government to address its long-standing demands.

The Zonal Coordinator, Adeola Oyebisi Egbedokun, made this known during a press conference at the Federal University of Oye-Ekiti. He described the rallies as the union’s first decisive response to the government’s continued inaction, warning that the protests signal what lies ahead if concerns remain unaddressed.

Egbedokun noted that the rallies will hold simultaneously across universities nationwide, with academic activities suspended during the demonstrations.

According to him, the National Executive Council (NEC) of ASUU has given the government until its scheduled meeting of August 28 to respond to the union’s demands, after which the next line of action would be determined.

“For over two years, we have kept faith with dialogue and refrained from strikes, but our patience has reached its limit. If the government continues to play games with the future of our universities, then it must bear the consequences of the storm that will follow,” he warned.

The union listed its demands to include: re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, opposition to the TISSF loan scheme—which it described as financial coercion—halting the proliferation of universities, and improved retirement benefits for professors and staff.

Egbedokun also urged members of the public, including the Nigerian Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), traditional rulers, and the National Assembly, to prevail on the government to avert an avoidable confrontation.

He accused the government of hypocrisy and neglect, citing the abandonment of the Yayale Ahmed report, the “debt trap” of the TISSF loan scheme, unchecked establishment of new universities, and the alleged poor treatment of retired academics.

“This government has chosen to mock knowledge, insult scholars, and trample on the foundation of the nation’s future. Enough is enough,” he declared.

He stressed that the burden of averting a crisis now rests solely on the government, saying:
“The ball is no longer in our court. It is squarely in theirs. Let them choose: justice or judgment, action or upheaval, peace or storm.”