The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Jos Branch, has accused the Federal Government and the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, of deceit, negligence, and lack of genuine commitment to addressing the lingering issues confronting the nation’s public universities.
In a strong Press statement signed and issued on Wednesday by the Unijos ASUU branch Chairman, Prof. Jurbe Joseph Molwus, the union warned that it may be compelled to resume its suspended strike action if the government fails to fulfil its obligations before the expiration of the four-week ultimatum earlier issued.
Prof. Molwus recalled that on October 22, 2025, ASUU gave the Federal Government a four-week deadline to meet its demands or risk another industrial action. However, two weeks into the ultimatum, the union said “there has been no meaningful progress.”
“As ASUU mobilises for its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting scheduled for November 8 and 9, 2025, we expect that some outstanding entitlements such as the 3.5 months of withheld salaries, arrears of the 25/35% wage award, promotion arrears, and unpaid salaries of some members would have been settled. But all we see are press statements from the Minister — what we need are credit alerts, not empty rhetoric,” the statement read.
The union expressed dismay that the N50 billion revitalisation fund reportedly released by the Federal Government has yet to reach any university, questioning why the Minister of Education continues to “sit on it.”
Reacting to Dr. Alausa’s recent claim that the government had released N2.3 billion to clear salary and promotion arrears in all federal universities, the ASUU Unijos Chair described the statement as “a fiction of the minister’s imagination.”
“How can N2.3 billion clear arrears across all federal universities in Nigeria? That amount can barely take care of three large universities. It is grossly inadequate and, frankly, embarrassing,” Prof. Molwus said.
The union challenged the minister to publicly disclose which universities or categories of staff were beneficiaries of the said amount, accusing him of “deliberate misinformation” and “cosmetic public relations” instead of real solutions.
ASUU Unijos questioned the competence of the Minister of Education to manage the nation’s university system.
“The way things are going, one may be right to infer that the Honourable Minister of Education is a misfit and perhaps lacks the capacity to oversee that ministry, the union stated, calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to consider replacing him with someone who truly understands the challenges of tertiary education in Nigeria.”
The union also urged the Minister of State for Education, herself a product of the university system, to intervene more meaningfully, noting that her own unpaid entitlements are part of the issues under contention.
ASUU reiterated that its suspended strike was an act of goodwill and respect for collective bargaining, not a sign of surrender. It warned that the patience of its members is fast running out as the November 21 deadline approaches.
“If the Federal Government fails to act before the expiration of the ultimatum, ASUU should not be blamed if it resumes its suspended strike. Our demands are legitimate, and our members are simply asking for what is rightfully theirs”.
The union appealed to the media, parents, students, and the general public to prevail on the government to meet its commitments to avert another disruption of academic activities across Nigerian universities.
