No Need for Strike, All ASUU Requests Addressed – FG

The Federal Government has dismissed the two-week warning strike declared by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), insisting that all the union’s demands have been addressed.

The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made the statement on Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, appealing to the union to call off the industrial action and allow academic activities to continue across universities nationwide.

“We have addressed every single request by ASUU; there is no need for this strike, and we are pleading with them to go back to school,” Alausa said.

He added that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains committed to fair dialogue and the sustainable funding of Nigeria’s tertiary education sector.

“We need to keep our children in school. If there is any group of people that I have met with the most since I assumed this position, it is ASUU,” the minister added.

Alausa dismissed reports suggesting that the government was slow or unwilling to meet the union’s demands, describing such claims as “incorrect.”
He further noted that the Tinubu-led administration had taken deliberate steps to address long-standing issues affecting the university system, including improved funding, staff welfare, and accountability in the management of public institutions.

The minister’s remarks came hours after ASUU announced a two-week nationwide warning strike, which it said would begin from midnight on Monday, October 13, 2025, following the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum earlier issued to the Federal Government.

According to ASUU, the strike became necessary due to the government’s alleged failure to implement agreements reached in previous negotiations, as well as delays in addressing lecturers’ welfare and funding challenges in public universities.

The union, in a directive sent to all its chapters nationwide, said the two-week warning strike was to draw the government’s attention to lingering issues affecting the education sector.

While the strike is expected to disrupt academic activities in public universities across the country, ASUU said it remains open to dialogue with the government to avert a full-blown shutdown of the university system.