The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has vowed to shut down major infrastructure across the country if the Federal Government fails to resolve its lingering dispute with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which has again threatened to embark on a nationwide strike.
NANS Assistant General Secretary, Emmanuel Adejuwon, speaking in Abuja on Monday, said the union would mobilise students for “massive protests” that would paralyse activities nationwide should ASUU proceed with its threat.
“Let it be on record: if this strike is not averted, we will bring the country to a standstill until the future of Nigerian students is secured,” Adejuwon declared. “The Federal Government must act now. ASUU must act responsibly. And Nigerian students will not sit idle while our future is wasted.”
He argued that strike actions only punish children of ordinary Nigerians whose parents struggle to pay tuition in public universities, while politicians’ children school abroad or in expensive private institutions.
“This strike must not be allowed to happen,” Adejuwon said. “If the children of politicians were in our public universities, this issue would have been resolved long ago.”
The student body also accused the Federal Government of insincerity in meeting ASUU’s demands, warning that it would no longer tolerate “endless promises and excuses.”
At the same time, Adejuwon urged ASUU to reconsider its tactics, noting that prolonged strikes damage academic calendars, elongate students’ years in school, and weaken the value of university degrees.
ASUU insists on demands
Meanwhile, ASUU branches across the country have renewed their demands, warning that another nationwide strike is imminent unless the Federal Government implements key agreements.
In Ibadan, Zonal Coordinator Prof. Biodun Olaniran urged the government to implement the Yayale Ahmed report submitted in February, describing it as a comprehensive resolution of all contentious issues.
“The true test of government’s sincerity lies in how it handles the Yayale Ahmed report,” Olaniran said. “Our members are frustrated with delay tactics and are no longer willing to be dragged along endlessly.”
He listed the union’s concerns to include the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement on university funding, outstanding salary awards of 25–35 per cent, unpaid promotion arrears, withheld third-party deductions, rejection of the IPPIS payment platform, and unpaid earned academic allowances.
Similarly, in Abuja, Zonal Coordinator Prof. Al-Amin Abdullahi reiterated the union’s call for the release of withheld salaries and adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).
“It is impossible for a nation to advance beyond the standard of its university system,” Abdullahi warned. “Yet successive governments have systematically underfunded universities, leaving overcrowded classrooms, poorly equipped laboratories, and inhabitable hostels.”
In Uyo, Calabar Zonal Coordinator Dr. Ikechukwu Igwenyi described the recently launched Tertiary Institution Staff Loan Scheme as a “poison chalice,” accusing government of using it as a distraction from its failure to review salaries and implement agreements.
“How can government owe its workforce and then turn around to offer an impossible loan scheme?” he asked. “We reject the loan and everything it represents.”
Tensions ahead of August 28 meeting
ASUU and NANS have now pointed to the August 28, 2025, meeting with the Federal Government as a decisive moment that will determine whether universities remain open or slide into another round of industrial action.
For students, Adejuwon insisted the message is clear: “The time for games is over. The Federal Government must act now. ASUU must act responsibly. And Nigerian students will not sit idle while our future is wasted.”
