ASUU Issues Ultimatum, Threatens Nationwide Strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Akure Zone, on Monday announced that it is mobilizing members nationwide for a mass rally scheduled for Tuesday, August 26, 2025.

According to the union, the move aims to pressure the Federal Government into addressing long-standing demands that have been ignored.

The Zonal Coordinator, Adeola Oyebisi Egbedokun, disclosed this during a press conference held at the Federal University of Oye-Ekiti.

He described the rallies as ASUU’s first major response to the government’s continued inaction, warning that the protests are a clear signal of what lies ahead if the issues remain unresolved.

Egbedokun stated that the rallies will take place simultaneously across all universities in the country, and academic activities will be suspended during the demonstrations.

According to him, the National Executive Council (NEC) of ASUU has given the Federal Government until its scheduled meeting of August 28 to respond to the union’s demands, after which further actions will be decided.

“For over two years, we have kept faith with dialogue and refrained from strikes, but our patience has reached its limit.

If the government continues to play games with the future of our universities, then it must bear the consequences of the storm that will follow,” he warned.

The union’s demands include: re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, opposition to the TISSF loan scheme described as financial coercion, halting the proliferation of universities, and improved retirement benefits for professors and staff.

Egbedokun also appealed to the Nigerian Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), traditional rulers, and the National Assembly to intervene and persuade the government to prevent an avoidable crisis.

He accused the government of hypocrisy and neglect, highlighting the abandonment of the Yayale Ahmed report, the “debt trap” of the TISSF loan scheme, uncontrolled establishment of new universities, and poor treatment of retired academics.

“This government has chosen to mock knowledge, insult scholars, and trample on the foundation of the nation’s future. Enough is enough,” he declared.

Egbedokun concluded by stressing that the responsibility to avert chaos now rests solely on the Federal Government, stating:

“The ball is no longer in our court. It is squarely in theirs. Let them choose: justice or judgment, action or upheaval, peace or storm.”

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