The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned that it may resume its suspended nationwide strike if ongoing negotiations with the Federal Government fail to yield meaningful progress before its one-month ultimatum expires.
ASUU’s Kano Zonal Coordinator, Abdulkadir Muhammad, issued the warning on Monday during a press conference held after the zone’s meeting in Kano.
The union had suspended its warning strike in October, granting the Federal Government a month-long ultimatum to address key demands relating to lecturers’ welfare and the creation of a conducive teaching and learning environment.
Muhammad criticised what he described as the government’s sluggish approach to renegotiating critical agreements aimed at revitalising the nation’s public universities. Representatives at the meeting included delegates from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Bayero University Kano (BUK), Kaduna State University (KASU), Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology (ADUSTECH), Federal University Dutse (FUD), Northwest University (NWU), and Sule Lamido University (SLUK).
Providing updates from ASUU’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on November 8 and 9 at Taraba State University, Muhammad said the union’s leadership was dissatisfied with the slow pace of renegotiation, calling it a major obstacle to reaching a meaningful conclusion.
He stressed that the October strike suspension was a gesture of goodwill to Nigerians, intended to foster dialogue and provide room for genuine progress.
“However, our hope for a holistic and timely resolution of the issues is increasingly being dashed,” he said.
Muhammad accused some government officials of employing tactics that undermine the renegotiation process and misinforming the public about ASUU’s demands. He added that the government had not demonstrated real commitment to improving lecturers’ welfare or addressing conditions driving brain drain in universities.
“What government has offered will neither improve the working conditions of academics nor attract scholars from other countries to our universities,” he stated.
He also dismissed claims that ASUU’s demands had been met, urging the Federal Government to place a moratorium on the creation of new state universities — similar to what it implemented for federal institutions.
“Governors have cultivated the habit of establishing universities in their states without commitment to funding them,” he added.