The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), representing university lecturers across Nigeria, is poised to initiate a nationwide strike in response to the Nigerian government’s failure to appoint Governing Councils for Federal Universities. The announcement was made during a briefing at ASUU’s national secretariat in Abuja by the union’s president, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke.
Prof. Osodeke expressed significant concerns over the lack of governance structures in federal universities, noting that all such councils were dissolved by the government in May of the previous year. The absence of these councils, according to ASUU, has severely impacted the administration and academic regulations within these institutions.
Further compounding their grievances, ASUU criticized the recent salary adjustments for university staff, describing the 35 percent increase for professors and 25 percent for other academics as inadequate and potentially reversible by the government. This stance reflects the union’s broader dissatisfaction with the current administration’s approach to addressing educational sector demands.
President Bola Tinubu’s administration, which had been given ample time to meet these demands according to ASUU, is yet to respond to the union’s escalating concerns. The looming strike threatens to disrupt academic activities nationwide, adding to the series of industrial actions by the union in recent years over similar issues.
