Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Senate has stepped into the ongoing two-week warning strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), initiating an urgent intervention aimed at preventing a total collapse of academic activities across Nigeria’s public universities.

The Red Chamber, through its Committees on Labour, and on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND, held a closed-door session with ASUU’s national leadership at the National Assembly yesterday and immediately scheduled a follow-up meeting with key government officials for next week.

Addressing journalists after the meeting, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND, Senator Muntari Dandutse (Katsina South), said the lawmakers had listened to ASUU’s grievances and were determined to ensure a swift resolution of the industrial dispute before it escalates into a nationwide shutdown.

He said, “After meeting with the national leadership of ASUU on the way out of the current strike and the looming indefinite one, we have resolved to convene a very important meeting with relevant government agencies, particularly the Minister of Education and the Executive Secretary of NUC, next week.”

He added that the committees had also resolved to meet with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, over allegations of encroachment on land belonging to the University of Abuja.

Dandutse explained that the Senate was taking the concerns of the lecturers seriously, as the ongoing strike had already disrupted academic calendars and could worsen the already fragile state of the country’s higher education system if not urgently addressed.

He said, “The Senate is committed to ensuring a lasting solution to the challenges facing Nigerian universities. 

“We have heard from ASUU and will convey their grievances to the appropriate authorities. 

“Our goal is to ensure that students return to the classrooms as quickly as possible and that the issues responsible for this recurring crisis are permanently resolved,” he said.

Earlier, the National President of ASUU, Professor Christopher Piwuna, told the joint Senate committees that the ongoing two-week warning strike was a result of the federal government’s persistent failure to honour past agreements and adequately fund the university system.

According to him, the strike stems from issues that have lingered since 2011, including the government’s refusal to implement the agreements reached with the union over improved funding, welfare, and university autonomy.

“We engaged the federal government for eight years without tangible results. The Yayale Ahmed Committee report, submitted in December 2024, was ignored until this industrial action began,” Piwuna said.

He expressed frustration that despite repeated commitments by successive administrations to reposition the university system, no meaningful progress had been made.

“Sustainable investment in education remains the only path to ending these incessant strikes and improving the global ranking of Nigerian universities,” the ASUU President stated.

Piwuna disclosed that though the National Assembly approved N150 billion for the revitalisation of public universities, only N50 billion had so far been released, and even that, he alleged, remained trapped at the Ministry of Education.

He accused the ministry of attempting to divert part of the approved funds to other tertiary institutions contrary to the National Assembly’s directive that the N150 billion should be used exclusively for universities.

Piwuna said, “The N150 billion approved specifically for universities must be used for the intended purpose. But we have been told that the Minister of Education plans to share it among universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, despite separate allocations for those institutions.”

He warned that unless the federal government took concrete steps to address the core issues of funding, infrastructure, and welfare, the union might be forced to declare a full-scale indefinite strike once the warning action expires.

Responding to ASUU’s demands, the Senate committees pledged to broker constructive dialogue between the union and the federal government, assuring that they would not allow the dispute to degenerate further.

Dandutse emphasised that the legislature viewed the education sector as the foundation of national development and that the continued instability in the universities was unacceptable.

He said, “The Senate is not comfortable with the constant disruption of academic activities in our universities. 

“We believe that with mutual understanding and sincerity from all parties, we can find a lasting solution that prioritizes both the welfare of lecturers and the interests of students,” he said.

He added that the Senate’s engagement with the Minister of Education and the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) next week would focus on identifying immediate funding interventions and creating a sustainable framework to prevent future strikes.

According to him, the committees’ recommendations after the next round of meetings would be forwarded to the Senate leadership for further legislative action.

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