ASUU Declares Year of Prolonged Struggle with FG

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has cautioned that without visible and concrete efforts to address lingering issues and meet its expectations, 2025 could become a year of prolonged confrontation between the union and the Federal Government.

ASUU criticized the Federal Government’s efforts in 2024, describing them as superficial and ineffective in resolving the challenges facing the university education sector. According to the union, the government neglected the university system and failed to adequately address its concernsthroughout the year.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the ASUU Chairman of the Ibadan chapter, Prof. Ayo Akinwole, attributed the uninterrupted academic calendar in 2024 to the union’s sacrifices rather than any significant progress made by the government in resolving outstanding issues.

ASUU also condemned the Federal Government’s inconsistency in policies, such as the 18-year age benchmark for tertiary education admission.
The union called on the administration of President Bola Tinubu to abandon plans for a fresh renegotiation of agreements and instead focus on reviewing and signing the Nimi Briggs-led renegotiated draft agreement.

“These pending issues were yet to be satisfactorily resolved in 2024 and will, no doubt, define the trajectories of the relationships between our Union and the Federal Government in 2025. Having reviewed the state of education in Nigeria in 2024, it is time to set an agenda for 2025.

“Fellow Nigerians, given the usual adamant posture of the Federal Government to satisfactorily address the pending issues concerning the education sector in general and the university system in particular, we expect that the year 2025 may, if care is not taken, be a year of another challenge and struggle.