The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is currently in a crucial meeting with leaders of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), and other tertiary institution unions over the ongoing nationwide strike.

Naijaonpoint reports that the meeting, which is holding at the NLC headquarters in Abuja, seeks to address the concerns raised by striking workers and to find a way out of the protracted crisis that has paralysed public universities and other higher institutions.

The National President of ASUU, Chris Piwuna, had on Sunday, October 12, 2025 announced the commencement of the strike during a briefing at the University of Abuja, after the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum issued to the Federal Government.

The union accused the government of neglecting unresolved issues around staff welfare, infrastructure, salary arrears, and the long-standing 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement.

Piwuna stated, “Our demands remain the same, full implementation of the 2009 agreement, release of withheld three-and-a-half months salaries, sustainable funding for public universities, an end to victimisation of lecturers, settlement of promotion arrears, and payment of withheld cooperative and union deductions.”

The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, had earlier assured that talks were in the “final phase,” citing the release of ₦50 billion for earned academic allowances and ₦150 billion provisioned in the 2025 budget for revitalisation projects. But ASUU dismissed the government’s measures as inadequate.

The NLC, in its invitation letter to the unions, reaffirmed solidarity with striking lecturers and other tertiary education workers.

It condemned the Federal Government’s failure to honour collective agreements, warning that the “No Pay, No Work” principle must apply conversely, that government must not expect work without pay or fulfillment of obligations.

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