ADMIN.
The federal government Tuesday said industrial actions by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) are permanently over.
Speaking during the presentation of awards to winners of the Student Venture Capital Grant (SVCG) initiative at the United Nations Development Programme Innovation Hub, Ikoyi, Lagos, Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, assured Nigerians, especially parents and students, that universities and polytechnics will remain open for all academic sessions.
He said the government had resolved long standing disputes with ASUU under the FG/ASUU 2025 renegotiated agreement and was also finalising an agreement with the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU).
Recall that on January 14, the federal government and ASUU signed an agreement that includes a 40 per cent salary increase for academic staff, improved pensions, and a commitment to better university funding.
The minister said recent reports that the ASUU president, Prof Chris Piwuna, gave a four-day ultimatum to the FG are “fake news,” and that he confirmed with the ASUU president that the latter was “quoted out of context.”
He said the 40 per cent salary increase had begun reaching academic staff by the end of January 2026, saying calls to vice chancellors, including the University of Lagos, confirmed that there were no strikes.
Alausa added that reports of strikes in UNILAG were due to miscommunication at local union levels and that the national ASUU president had clarified the matter.
The minister said the president, Bola Tinubu, had been personally involved in resolving and averting industrial disputes concerning tertiary institutions’ staff.
He stated that the negotiations with ASUU were direct and unmediated, with the government reporting only to the president.
He said:.“We’ve solved this in totality. So when you get news about looming strikes, treat it as fake. Let me use this medium to assure our parents. Our words are our bond. Your students will remain in school. Strikes have been cured in eternity.
“Our tertiary institutions will continue to remain open for all academic sessions. Please don’t worry about strikes. We’ve also resolved issues with the non-academic staff union, and that agreement will be signed in the coming weeks.
“The academic staff members are happy. This is an agreement that went into a quagmire for 20 years, and we have fixed it in totality. This is one government that believes in our youth. In the past three years, there has never been a strike, and I can tell you, there will never be a strike.”