ASUU Protests Nationwide, Urges Tinubu to Sign 2009 Agreement or Face Strike

On Tuesday, August 26, 2025, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) staged protests across Nigeria’s federal universities, calling on stakeholders, including the National Assembly and traditional leaders, to urge President Bola Tinubu to address their demands or risk a nationwide strike, as reported by Vanguard and AllAfrica.com. The protests, spanning institutions like the Universities of Lagos, Ibadan, Jos, Uyo, Abuja, Ilorin, Maiduguri, and Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, highlighted the government’s failure to implement the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, unpaid salaries, and stalled reforms. ASUU rejected the government’s proposed loan scheme, calling it a “Greek gift” and insisting on payment of dues.

The Federal Ministry of Education, via Director Folasade Boriowo, expressed optimism about resolving the issue at a meeting scheduled for August 28, 2025, led by Minister Dr. Tunji Alausa. However, ASUU leaders, including UNILAG’s Prof. Idou Keinde, Akure Zone’s Prof. Adeola Egbedokun, and UI’s Dr. Adefemi Afolabi, warned that lecturers’ patience is exhausted, citing unpaid three-and-a-half months’ salaries, a year’s worth of 25–35% wage award arrears, and over five years of promotion arrears. At UNIUYO, Prof. Opeyemi Olajide suspended exams, while UNIJOS’s Comrade Jurbe Molwus and MOUAU’s Prof. Chike Ugwuene criticized the obsolete ₦500,000 professor’s salary against Africa’s ₦1.5 million average. X posts from @ASUU_NG (August 26, 2025) amplified the protests, with @Naija_Activist noting 72% public support for ASUU’s demands (Afrobarometer, 2025). Failure to sign the renegotiated agreement by August 28 could halt academic activities, impacting 1.8 million students (NBS, 2024).