The Federal Government of Nigeria has dismissed the latest industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as “completely unnecessary,” insisting that all the union’s key demands have already been addressed under President Bola Tinubu’s education reform drive.
Speaking on Channels Television’s flagship programme The Morning Brief, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, said the government had fulfilled every financial and policy obligation raised by ASUU since his assumption of office.
“We have addressed every single request by ASUU; there is no need for this strike. We are pleading with them to go back to school. We’ve paid their arrears, cleared their allowances, and provided budgetary allocations for the rest,” Alausa statedIDNN 15.10.25.
Alausa clarified that the ₦50 billion Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) had already been released months earlier after direct approval by the President. The funds, he said, were mainstreamed into the lecturers’ regular salaries to prevent future arrears.
“There will never be arrears again,” he explained. “We agreed that the best approach was to mainstream the earned allowances, and that has been done. The President personally ensured that.”IDNN 15.10.25
The minister also addressed other major issues raised by the union, including postgraduate supervision allowances, which he confirmed were now payable at the institutional level, and the needs assessment fund, originally negotiated nearly two decades ago.
“The President approved ₦150 billion in the 2026 budget as part of the needs assessment commitment,” Alausa said. “₦50 billion has already been released and is sitting in the account; ASUU is involved in managing the disbursement process.”IDNN 15.10.25
He added that promotion arrears would also be cleared through the 2026 Appropriation Act, describing Tinubu’s approach as “systematic and transparent.”
Despite the appeal, ASUU went ahead with its two-week warning strike, which began on October 13, 2025, after claiming that prior assurances had not been backed by action. Union President Prof. Chris Piwuna announced the action at the University of Abuja, lamenting that “no meaningful progress” had been made in negotiationsIDNN 15.10.25.
However, the Education Minister reiterated that the administration remained open to dialogue, but would enforce the no-work, no-pay policy for the duration of the strike.
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