The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has given the Federal Government a four-week deadline to address several unresolved issues affecting public universities or risk a nationwide strike.
The warning was issued on Monday, November 17, 2025, by the ASUU Calabar Zone Coordinator, Comrade Ikechukwu Igwenyi, during a media briefing in Calabar.
He criticised the government for delaying the implementation of key agreements meant to improve the university system.
Igwenyi explained that ASUU wants the government to complete and implement the renegotiated 2009 FGN ASUU agreement with specific timelines.
The union also wants better salaries and improved working conditions to stop the ongoing brain drain in the academic sector.
ASUU is also demanding the immediate payment of the outstanding 3½ months’ salaries, all withheld payments, refund of third-party deductions, and settlement of promotion arrears.
Additionally, the union called on the government to pay the outstanding 25–35% wage awards, increase funding for education, and ensure stable financing of public universities.
ASUU accused the government of interfering with university autonomy and urged it to respect existing laws governing the university system.
In a statement signed by Igwenyi and nine other ASUU leaders from universities in the Calabar Zone including UNICAL, UNICROSS, ABSU, EBSU, FUNAI, UEE, and UNIUYO the union warned that it would embark on strike action if the government fails to meet its demands within four weeks.
“We remain unbowed, unbroken, and committed to this struggle, confident that we will win,” the statement said.
ASUU stressed that education is a right, not a privilege, arguing that Nigeria’s problem is not lack of funds but lack of political will to prioritise education.
“We will rebuild the Nigerian university system of our dreams from the ashes of this struggle,” the union declared.
