The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has announced the suspension of its two-week warning strike, granting the Federal Government (FG) a one-month window to finalize the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and resolve other lingering issues affecting Nigeria’s university system.
ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, made this known on Wednesday in Abuja during a press briefing, where he explained that the decision followed productive engagements with the government and interventions from the National Assembly.
Prof. Piwuna recalled that ASUU had declared the warning strike on October 13, 2025, due to the government’s alleged failure to respond to its repeated appeals to address welfare and infrastructural challenges within the nation’s universities.
“When we gathered here about 10 days ago to painfully declare a warning strike, it was a decision that left us with no other choice. The government had ignored our repeated overtures to address issues critical to the survival of Nigeria’s public universities,” he stated.
According to the ASUU president, the Federal Government re-engaged the union through a negotiation team led by Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, which met with ASUU representatives on October 16 and 18 to deliberate on the draft renegotiated agreement.
While acknowledging that not all issues have been resolved, Piwuna noted that substantial progress was made compared to the situation before the strike began.
“We have not achieved all our objectives, but we are certainly not where we were before the strike began. This shows that had the government responded earlier, there would have been no need for the action,” he added.
He also commended the Senate Committees on Tertiary Education and TETFund, the Senate Committee on Labour, and the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, for their intervention and mediation efforts, which he said rekindled hope for a lasting resolution.
Following an emergency meeting of ASUU’s National Executive Council (NEC) held from October 21–22, 2025, the union reviewed the situation and concluded that the warning strike had partially achieved its purpose by compelling the government to return to the negotiation table.
“While noting that more work remains to be done, NEC resolved to suspend the warning strike to allow for a conducive atmosphere for further engagement,” Piwuna announced.
With the strike now suspended, the Federal Government has one month to meet ASUU’s demands before the union reconsiders its next line of action.