This week, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) declared a two-week warning strike. This followed the expiration of its 14-day ultimatum to the federal government to address lingering issues such as unpaid Earned Academic Allowances, withheld salaries, and, most importantly, the government’s failure to implement the 2009 agreement.
In what appears to be an attempt to intimidate university teachers, the government swiftly responded with a threat to invoke the no-work-no-pay policy, but ASUU remains unmoved. The policy is rooted in labour laws made to regulate the relationship between employers and employees. It, however, does not mean that the federal government should readily resort to “no work, no pay” if this can be avoided.
The right to embark on strike is one of the most inalienable possessions of labour. It is their most potent weapon and protection against low wages and poor working conditions, which employers may seek to impose on them. The Nigerian government is now trying to use the no-work-no-pay policy to muzzle ASUU from making their demands, even when the conditions in which they work are poor.
What is even more disturbing is that barring any swift intervention, these two positions – the government’s threat and ASUU’s adamance – will, as usual, force students across the country’s 147 federal and state-owned universities, most of whose lecturers are ASUU members, to stay at home for a long period.
Periodic Strikes
Sadly, this is not the first time Nigeria has faced this issue. Since 1999, ASUU has embarked on strike about twenty times, keeping students away from classrooms for a cumulative period of roughly 53 months.
This recurring disruption raises serious questions: when will Nigerian universities enjoy an uninterrupted academic calendar? Will there ever be an end to ASUU strikes? And why is the federal government unwilling to honour the 2009 agreement it willingly signed with the union?
When a government claims to prioritise education yet fails to implement an agreement it willingly entered, an agreement that seeks to ensure university autonomy, improved funding, and better welfare for academic staff, it exposes itself as an administration that does not value education. The non-implementation of the 2009 agreement remains the primary reason for the unending cycle of strikes that continue to cripple teaching and learning in Nigerian public universities.
Inaction?
There is clear evidence that points to successive administrations’ unwillingness to address the issue. Although he inherited it, the late President Muhammadu Buhari did very little to resolve this issue. In 2017, his administration inaugurated the Wale Babalakin Committee to revisit the 2009 agreement. In 2021, the Munzali Jibrin Committee was inaugurated, following Babalakin’s resignation. By 2022, the Nimi Briggs Renegotiation Committee was constituted. In total, the Buhari administration established three different committees to renegotiate the 2009 agreement; however, no action was taken.
In October 2024, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, as if following the template of the Buhari administration, established yet another committee, chaired by Yayale Ahmed, to renegotiate the same agreement. Not done, the government, in August 2025, inaugurated an internal committee led by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education to review the Yayale Ahmed report. Then, on October 7, 2025, it set up what it called the Tertiary Institutions Expanded Negotiation Committee, again chaired by Yayale Ahmed.
Years after the agreement was signed, and despite numerous committees submitting recommendations for implementation, successive governments have consistently failed to act. This endless cycle of committees serves only one purpose: to buy time and avoid responsibility, as the government is not ready to take the necessary action. Those entrusted with executing the agreement are, in truth, using bureaucracy as a shield against progress.
Unpatriotic officials
But what should Nigerians expect from officials whose children attend private universities or study abroad, in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere? For them, the deplorable state of Nigeria’s public universities is trivial. That lecturers conduct research and teach under unbearable conditions is of no concern to them. They are equally unmoved by the embarrassing exodus of students to low-quality universities in neighbouring countries such as Benin Republic, Niger, and Cameroon.
They also overlook the abysmally poor performance of Nigerian universities in global rankings. For instance, in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings, Nigerian institutions consistently perform poorly. These low rankings are not accidental; they are the direct consequence of repeated disruptions to teaching and research caused by strikes, themselves a reaction to government neglect and underfunding.
The results of this prolonged neglect are evident. The quality of graduates produced by Nigerian universities continues to deteriorate. Many employers describe them as unemployable or, more bluntly, half-baked. The nation’s universities face numerous challenges, including brain drain, deteriorating infrastructure, and chronic underfunding, all of which are rooted in the government’s lack of commitment to education. Successive government officials care less about this, perhaps because their children don’t attend these universities.
From 1999 to date, budgetary allocations to the education sector have remained dismal, consistently falling short of UNESCO’s recommended 26% benchmark. Unfortunately, there is little hope of change. President Tinubu, like his predecessors, appears to be following the same path. In 2024, education received a paltry 6.4% of the national budget. Although the figure rose slightly to 7.3% in 2025, the irregular release of funds has rendered that increase meaningless.
While President Tinubu inherited the non-implementation of the 2009 agreement, which has fueled these endless strikes, he cannot afford to ignore it. He must take decisive steps to end this cycle once and for all. The time has come for him to prove that his administration values education and that he is willing to make the hard decisions necessary to restore stability to Nigeria’s public universities.
The President must take all necessary steps, including rescinding the decision to invoke the no-work-no-pay policy, and direct the immediate implementation of the 2009 agreement and the resolution of other contentious issues to ensure the stability of the nation’s university system. There has to be an end to the recurring nightmare of ASUU strikes. And Tinubu must ensure that this is done without delay.
