The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has publicly dismissed the Federal Government’s directive to enforce a ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy against its members, with its president declaring that the union cannot be intimidated by threats.
The defiant statement sets the stage for a major confrontation as public universities across Nigeria face a complete shutdown.
The union’s president, Dr Chris Piwuna, made the remarks during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, just hours after the government issued its punitive directive.
He asserted that the academic community remains united and will not succumb to what he described as a transparent attempt by the government to create divisions amongst staff.
“We don’t respond to threats, and nobody can threaten us,” Piwuna stated emphatically. He accused the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, of trying to break the union’s solidarity by appealing to other academic bodies. “He is threatening us, writing to NAMDA and CONUA, telling them they can get their salaries. He wants to divide us, but we are united in this matter,” Piwuna said, listing other unions like SSANU and NASU as standing together with ASUU.
The ASUU president advised the minister to focus on resolving the core issues rather than escalating tensions. “He has got something coming. He had better sit down and solve this problem or he will fail in trying to divide us,” he warned. Despite the strong rhetoric, Piwuna signalled that the union remains open to discussion, revealing that he had already been contacted by the Minister of State for Labour. “ASUU is willing. We are ready and available to discuss this matter once and for all,” he confirmed.
The union’s defiance is a direct response to a circular issued earlier on Monday by Education Minister Tunji Alausa. The circular formally directed the vice-chancellors of all public universities to implement the ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy against lecturers participating in the ongoing two-week warning strike. The minister expressed the government’s displeasure that ASUU had chosen to strike despite ongoing negotiations.
The directive ordered university heads to conduct physical headcounts and roll-calls of academic staff to identify those who are working. It specifically exempted members of the Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA) and the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA), who are not part of the industrial action. The vice-chancellors were instructed to submit compliance reports within a week, with the National Universities Commission (NUC) tasked with monitoring the situation.
This exchange follows ASUU’s announcement on Sunday of a “total and comprehensive” two-week warning strike. The union stated the decision was inevitable after the government failed to provide a substantial response to the 14-day ultimatum it issued on 28th September. The lecturers are protesting the government’s slow response to their repeated appeals and the continued neglect of agreements signed as far back as 2009.
The Crux of the Matter
The current standoff is the latest episode in a long-running and often bitter dispute between ASUU and the Federal Government, the root of which lies in an agreement signed in 2009. That agreement was meant to address fundamental issues in the Nigerian university system, including funding for infrastructure, staff remuneration, university autonomy, and the revamping of outdated facilities.
A major point of contention has been the government’s consistent failure to fully implement the terms of this agreement. For eight years, a renegotiation process has been dragging on inconclusively, leading to repeated threats and actions by the union.
The core demands of ASUU often include the release of funds for the revitalisation of public universities, the payment of outstanding academic allowances, and the deployment of a more transparent payroll system, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), to replace the government’s Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
The government, on its part, has consistently argued that it has addressed many of these requests, citing budget allocations and piecemeal payments. It often labels strikes as unnecessary, asserting that dialogue is the preferred path.
However, ASUU maintains that the government’s responses are superficial and fail to holistically address the systemic decay in public universities. This cycle of broken promises, followed by strikes and rushed negotiations, has become a familiar pattern in Nigeria, with students often bearing the brunt, facing prolonged academic disruptions and an uncertain educational future.
The current ‘No Work, No Pay’ threat is an escalation from the government, but ASUU’s history suggests such financial penalties have done little to deter the union from its long-standing fight for what it calls the “survival of public university education” in Nigeria.
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