‘For Parents, Students,’ full statement the union issued and signed by Christopher Piwuna, ASUU President
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has declared Tuesday, August 26, 2025, as a day of protest across campuses nationwide to press home its demands for better welfare and working conditions for lecturers.
The union, in a statement signed by Christopher Piwuna, ASUU President, said the action would serve as a clear statement of dissatisfaction with the federal and state governments over their persistent neglect of issues affecting academics in public universities.
“Tuesday, 26th August 2025, has been declared a day of protest across all campuses to express our strong dissatisfaction with the government’s persistent neglect of our demands,” The statement read.
This fresh development follows repeated calls by the union for the government to take urgent steps to address long-standing issues threatening the stability of Nigeria’s university system.
Earlier on August 8, 2025, ASUU President, Piwuna, had, in a press release titled “Act Now to Avert the Looming Crisis”, warned that lecturers across the country were being pushed to the brink by worsening conditions. He highlighted unpaid arrears, stalled renegotiation of the 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement, poor funding of institutions, and the politicisation of Vice-Chancellor appointments as key grievances.
Reports from campuses show that lecturers in Nigerian public universities are struggling. They teach on empty stomachs, research in poorly equipped libraries and laboratories, and work under severe personal and professional hardships,” Piwuna said in the statement.
He criticised government flip-flops on agreements, the use of IPPIS for salary payments, and the failure to respect collective bargaining principles under international labour conventions. According to him, the neglect has left lecturers “forgotten, shamed, and demoralised.”
The union maintained that without a comprehensive collective bargaining agreement addressing welfare, working conditions, funding, and autonomy, the university system risks another major industrial crisis.
ASUU has, over the years, embarked on several nationwide strikes to press for improved conditions in the sector, with the government repeatedly promising but failing to deliver lasting solutions.
“Every major ASUU dispute since 2012 stems from government failure to honour the 2009 Agreement’s provisions on conditions of service, funding, autonomy, academic freedom, and related legislative reforms. Governments pick and choose which aspects to implement, disregarding lecturers’ morale and essential needs. Efforts to attract academics abroad as “volunteers” under a “Diaspora Bridge” are hypocritical without addressing the foundational issues.
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