…as lecturers insist on improved funding for universities
The Senate has intervened in the ongoing two-week warning strike declared by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), with plans to hold crucial talks with key education stakeholders next week.
In its bid to resolve the crisis, the Senate Committees on Labour, Tertiary Institutions, and TETFund met with the leadership of ASUU on Friday at the National Assembly, Abuja.
The lawmakers have also scheduled a follow-up meeting for Tuesday with Tunji Alausa, the minister of Education, and Abdullahi Ribadu, the executive secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC).
Speaking with journalists after the closed-door session, Muntari Dandutse (Katsina South), the chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, said the committees had listened to ASUU’s grievances and were ready to engage relevant government officials to find lasting solutions.
“After meeting with the national leadership of ASUU on the way out of the current strike and the looming indefinite one, we resolved to convene an important meeting with the Minister of Education and the Executive Secretary of NUC next week,” Dandutse said.
He added that the committees would also meet with Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), over the reported encroachment on the University of Abuja’s land.
“We will engage the FCT Minister on the need to stop any action that tampers with the university’s land,” he stated.
Earlier, Christopher Piwuna, the National President of ASUU, reiterated that improved and sustained funding for public universities, as earlier agreed between the union and the federal government, remains the only path to resolving the strike and stabilising the university system.
According to him, “Sustainable investment in education is the only way to end recurring strikes and improve the global ranking of Nigerian universities. The ongoing two-week warning strike stems from issues that date as far back as 2011.”
He noted that ASUU had engaged the federal government for eight years without concrete results. “The Yayale Ahmed Committee report submitted in December 2024 was ignored until this industrial action began,” he said.
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On funding delays, Piwuna revealed that although the National Assembly approved ₦150 billion for universities, only ₦50 billion has been released so far — and even that, he alleged, remains stuck at the Ministry of Education.
“The minister intends to share the ₦50 billion among universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education despite separate allocations for those institutions,” Piwuna alleged. “The ₦150 billion approved specifically for universities must be used for that purpose.”
He maintained that the ongoing strike was a warning signal to push the government to act before a total collapse of the system.
