Teaching Stops as Nigerian University Lecturers Begin Two-Week Strike

• Oct 14, 2025

Teaching has been suspended in public universities across Nigeria after lecturers began a two-week strike to demand better pay and improved funding for higher education. The strike comes just weeks after universities resumed a new academic year, leaving students once again facing uncertainty over their studies.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) announced the strike through its national president, Professor Chris Piwuna, who described the decision as “inevitable.” He accused the government of failing to address long-standing issues affecting the university system, including poor funding, inadequate infrastructure, and unpaid allowances.

In response, the Nigerian government has appealed to the lecturers to call off the strike and return to dialogue. Officials insisted that negotiation remains the most constructive way to resolve the dispute. The Ministry of Labour warned that lecturers who refuse to work will not receive salaries during the strike period, citing the country’s “No Work, No Pay” policy.

According to a government statement, an offer addressing key concerns — such as staff welfare, working conditions, and institutional governance — has already been presented to ASUU. The government said it is awaiting the union’s formal response before taking further action.

This latest standoff continues a decades-long pattern of industrial unrest in Nigeria’s university system. ASUU’s disputes with successive governments date back to the 1980s, often centering on salary arrears, underfunded research programs, and neglected infrastructure. Agreements signed in 1992, 2009, and 2013 have frequently gone unfulfilled, leading to repeated walkouts by academic staff.

The last major strike in 2022 lasted eight months, crippling academic activities nationwide and forcing millions of students to remain idle. That strike only ended after an industrial court ordered the lecturers back to work, highlighting how entrenched the labour conflict has become.

Education experts say the frequent strikes point to deeper structural problems in Nigeria’s higher education sector, including chronic underfunding, politicized management of universities, and a persistent lack of trust between the government and unions.

As the current strike enters its first week, students and parents are once again left in limbo, hoping that both sides will reach a lasting solution to prevent yet another disruption of the academic calendar.