FG Says It Has Met Nearly All ASUU Demands, Dismisses Strike as Unjustified

The Federal Government has declared that it has “literally met all the demands” of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), describing the union’s recent strike as unnecessary and unjustified.

Minister of State for Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, stated this on Tuesday while briefing State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Alausa said the meeting was aimed at updating the President on the ongoing negotiations with ASUU and seeking further concessions to ensure stability in the education sector.

“The President has mandated us that he doesn’t want ASUU to go on strike, and we’re doing everything humanly possible to ensure that our students stay in school,” Alausa said.
“The last strike they went on for about six days was not really needed. We’ve met literally all their requirements. We’ve returned to the negotiation table, and I spoke with the ASUU leadership this morning. We will resolve this.”

He praised President Tinubu’s “benevolent love for education and human capital development,” adding that the administration was leveraging ongoing national reforms to improve the education system.

“When you talk about human capital, you’re talking about health, education, and social protection. Beyond what the President is doing in expanding opportunities and growing the economy, we’ve seen significant reforms—fuel subsidy removal, foreign exchange unification, infrastructure expansion, new tax policies, and GDP growth at 4.23 percent in the last quarter. Nigeria is back to governance,” he said.

Addressing allegations that the government had neglected other unions in tertiary institutions, the minister explained that a single, unified negotiating committee, headed by Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, now handles discussions with all academic and non-academic unions across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.

“The problem in the past was having separate committees for each sector—ASUU, ASUP, and COEASU—that never coordinated. Now, one committee engages all tertiary unions to ensure consistent outcomes,” Alausa said.

He also dismissed reports of a four-week ultimatum issued by tertiary institution unions and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for the government to resolve the ongoing crises.

“With all due respect, there is no ultimatum. I still spoke to the ASUP president yesterday. Everything is calm, and they all understand this is a listening government. We will resolve significant parts of their problems,” he assured.

According to Alausa, the government has already addressed key issues, including the payment of arrears, earned academic allowances, and other welfare-related demands.

He further revealed that the ministry had launched a Tertiary Institution Governance and Transparency Dashboard, a digital platform designed to improve accountability by providing public access to data on budget allocations, grants, and university finances.

“The portal will promote transparency and allow citizens to monitor how universities are funded and managed,” he explained.

The minister reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to maintaining stability in the higher education sector, assuring that ongoing discussions with ASUU and other unions would soon yield lasting resolutions.

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