Students Panic as ASUU Issues 14-Day Ultimatum, Threatens Fresh Strike

Nigerian students are gripped with fear of another prolonged academic disruption as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Sunday issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government over unresolved issues affecting public universities.

In a statement released after its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at the University of Abuja, ASUU accused the government of neglecting the welfare of lecturers and failing to honour agreements reached with the union.

ASUU President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna, who signed the statement, said the union had in August staged rallies across federal and state universities to draw attention to the crisis, but lamented that the demonstrations yielded no response from the authorities.

“If within 14 days the government fails to address our demands, ASUU will begin with a two-week warning strike, which may escalate into a total and indefinite shutdown of all public universities,” Piwuna warned.

The union listed its demands to include the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, sustainable funding for universities, revitalisation of public institutions, and an end to the alleged victimisation of members at LASU, Prince Abubakar Audu University, and FUTO.

Other demands are the payment of outstanding 25–35% salary arrears, resolution of delayed promotion arrears spanning four years, and settlement of pending third-party deductions.

Students, still recovering from the last nationwide shutdown in 2022, have taken to social media to express panic and frustration, fearing that their academic calendar could once again be thrown into disarray.

“This is heartbreaking. We just resumed normalcy, and now another strike threat is hanging over us,” one undergraduate wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

While ASUU insists the issues are not new, Prof. Piwuna stressed that the union had exhausted all peaceful avenues of engagement and could no longer fold its arms in the face of government inaction.