.We’ve addressed every request
By Valentine Amanze
Confusion in Nigerian universities as the federal government and the Academi Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) sing discordant tunes over the impending nationwide strike, which is supposed to begin on October 13, 2025.
While the Professor Chris Piwuna-led union, said in Abuja on Sunday that there was no going back on the strike, the government responded that there was no need as it had met the lecturers’ demands.
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, made the position of the government known on Channelstv on Monday.
His words: “We have addressed every single request by ASUU; there is no need for this strike, and we are pleading with them to go back to school.
“We need to keep our children in school. If there is any group of people that I have met with the most since I assumed this position, it is ASUU,” the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
According to him, claims that the government has been slow or unwilling to respond to the union’s demands were incorrect.
Earned Academic Allowance
“The arrears of their earned academic allowance, we’ve paid ₦50 billion. The President swiftly approved that payment months ago. Why they had earned academic arrears was that they didn’t want the arrears were mainstreamed as part of their salary, which was the best way, but they now came back and we talked to them.
“The earned academic arrears have now been mainstreamed as their salaries. There will never be arrears again.
“We’ve also addressed issues about the postgraduate supervision allowances, which are to be paid by the institutions, and I’ve been told that these are being paid.
“There are issues about the needs assessment money, which was not released. If you remember, this assessment was negotiated by them almost 20 years ago, but this government met those liabilities,” he stated.
The minister stated that President Bola Tinubu had expressed his commitment to relating with labour unions fairly.
Promotion Arrears
Alausa also highlighted measures taken by the Tinubu administration to fund Nigeria’s tertiary education.
The minister said, “The President approved ₦150 billion of his assessment money in this 2026 budget; ₦50 billion of that has been released. The President promised us he would release this in tranches of ₦50 billion over three payments; the first one has been released, it is sitting in the needs assessment account now.
Also read: Before ASUU embarks on another avoidable strike
“For us not to dispose of money, it’s ASUU that is holding those disbursements. The promotion arrears, we told them this will be paid with the 2026 budget, which will be appropriated as part of the 2026 appropriation budget, but what was causing the arrears, we’ve resolved that.”
ASUU Strike
ASUU had announced a total and comprehensive two-week warning strike affecting all public universities across Nigeria.
The Union’s National President, Professor Chris Piwuna, who made the announcement during a press conference held on Sunday at the University of Abuja, stated that there had been no meaningful progress to prevent the union from moving forward with its planned industrial action.
He explained that the 14-day notice, issued on September 28, 2025, had lapsed without any substantial response from the relevant authorities.
He stated that all ASUU branches across the country had been directed to commence a full withdrawal of their services beginning at midnight on Monday, October 13, 2025.
But the government last Wednesday, appealed to the union to shelve its planned strike, assuring that it was committed to addressing all outstanding demands raised by the lecturers.
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