The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to go on a nationwide strike due to their dissatisfaction with the government's handling of their demands. Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, president of the union, stated that the decision was made after a meeting of its national executive council, as there has been no meaningful effort by the government to address their demands in the last ten years.
The union demanded the sanctity of legally constituted Governing Councils. Recall that in June 2023, the National Universities Commission (NUC) dissolved the governing councils of all federal universities after a directive from the President. However, ASUU insists that the dissolution is “illegal”, claiming that the move has “paved the way for all manner of illegalities in the Nigerian University System”.
Some of the other demands include a review of the 2009 federal government and ASUU agreement, revitalization fund for public universities, payment of all earned academic allowances, including withheld salaries, and promotion arrears.
Other issues include alleged illegal recruitments in universities, the proliferation of public universities, and the continued use of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the new Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).