The Academic Staff Union of Universities has called for a comprehensive review of Nigeria’s education system and expressed concern over the Federal Government’s failure to pay the outstanding balance of lecturers’ salaries withheld during the union’s 2022 nationwide strike.
The National President of ASUU, Prof. Chris Piwuna, made the demands on Friday at a press conference in Jos, Plateau State.
Speaking on the theme, “Nigerian Universities and Nigeria Today: Our Worries, Our Propositions,” Piwuna said the government had failed to pay three-and-a-half months out of the seven-and-a-half months’ salaries withheld during the 2022 strike.
He said ASUU had welcomed President Bola Tinubu’s decision to pay four months of the withheld salaries but expressed disappointment over the failure to settle the outstanding balance.
Piwuna said the union’s repeated appeals for the payment of the remaining salaries had not yielded results, warning that ASUU would use all legitimate means to compel the government to fulfil its obligation.
He also called for the immediate payment of outstanding 25/35 per cent wage awards and promotion arrears owed to lecturers, saying the delays were threatening industrial harmony in universities.
On the December 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement, the union leader said its implementation had been slow and inconsistent, creating conditions that could trigger renewed unrest across university campuses.
According to him, several federal universities are struggling to implement the financial provisions of the agreement because of inadequate funding, while only a few state governors have endorsed the new salary structure for academics.
Consequently, Piwuna announced that ASUU’s National Executive Council had authorised some affected federal and state universities to embark on varying degrees of industrial action to press their demands.
The institutions listed include Plateau State University, Bokkos; Nasarawa State University, Keffi; Gombe State University; Abia State University; and Kaduna State University.
The ASUU president also condemned what he described as harassment and victimisation of union members at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Imo State University and Abia State University.
He warned that the union would not consider suspending industrial action in the affected institutions until the alleged victimisation of its members was addressed.
Piwuna further accused the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation of delaying the payment of promotion arrears and lecturers’ monthly salaries.
Beyond workers’ welfare, ASUU called for a fundamental overhaul of the nation’s education system to reflect Nigeria’s socioeconomic, cultural, technological and developmental needs.
The union urged greater investment in research, technical education, agriculture, innovation and skills development, rather than simply adopting education models designed for other countries.
ASUU also criticised the Tertiary Education Trust Fund’s classification of universities into “tenable and non-tenable” institutions, describing the policy as discriminatory.
The union further expressed concern over insecurity ahead of the 2027 general elections and urged the government to address the challenges threatening the country’s stability.
Piwuna said meaningful improvement in Nigeria’s public universities would require urgent action on lecturers’ welfare and full implementation of the December 2025 FGN-ASUU agreement.
