The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Wednesday announced an indefinite, total shutdown of all public universities effective Friday, 21 November 2025, after accusing the Federal Government of “deliberately sabotaging” every effort to avert another round of industrial action.
Rising from an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, ASUU President Prof. Chris Piwuna told DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS that the union had “exhausted every window of patience,” insisting that lecturers could no longer “keep the system running on empty promises.”
Key grievances that forced the strike, according to Piwuna, include:
- Unpaid 2022 strike salaries: Government still owes three-and-a-half months of salaries withheld during the eight-month strike of 2022.
- Stagnant pay: Despite inflation exceeding 34 %, the last salary review for academics dates back to 2009.
- Rejected offer: A recent proposal of 35 % increment was dismissed by the union as “grossly inadequate” and “a mockery of the sacrifices Nigerian scholars make.”
- Aborted renegotiation: ASUU says the White Paper on the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement remains largely unimplemented, with critical clauses on funding, retirement age and university autonomy left in limbo.
The union had issued a 30-day ultimatum last month, suspending a warning strike on the condition that “clear timelines” for resolving the issues be published. With no commitment forthcoming, zonal coordinators were directed to mobilise members for an indefinite action.
Across campuses, compliance appears total. The Port-Harcourt, Kano, Bauchi, Owerri and Benin zones have all released separate statements ordering “immediate and comprehensive” withdrawal of services, including teaching, supervision and participation in statutory meetings.
Brain-drain crisis worsening
ASUU also painted a grim picture of Nigeria’s academic future, revealing that the University of Lagos alone has lost 239 first-class graduates to foreign universities within the past seven years. “We are now the lowest-paid professors on earth,” Piwuna lamented. “Until remuneration reflects the intellectual capital we inject into nation-building, the exodus will continue.”
Government reacts
When contacted, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, pleaded for “more time,” promising that a supplementary budget allocation to clear the arrears would be sent to the National Assembly “within days.” The Minister of Labour and Employment, Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, has invited ASUU to an emergency conciliation meeting scheduled for Thursday, 20 November.
But ASUU leaders say they have “lost faith in last-minute invitations,” insisting the strike will proceed unless government signs a binding implementation timetable before noon on Friday.
Students, already groaning under lost academic calendar days, face another uncertain semester. The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has threatened mass protests if the impasse is not resolved within one week, warning that “the future of an entire generation is being gambled away.”
For now, lecture halls will go dark again, and the nation waits to see whether Thursday’s conciliation meeting can avert what ASUU calls “the inevitable.”
