The unending issue of Strike Action witnessed in the Nigerian Educational System over the years, often embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU), has raised the question of whether such a scenario can come to an end in Nigeria. Strike has become a deeply embedded tradition in Nigeria’s Education system owing primarily to the government’s seeming indifference to the demands of staff in tertiary institutions, especially universities The strikes, which started in 1988 and have continuously impeded advancement in the educational sector.
Till date, the union has gone on strike under every democratic administration. Following a closed-door meeting in June 2024, the union and the federal government decided to settle all disagreements peacefully in order to prevent a strike. Both sides also decided to begin a dialogue in order to stop the union’s scheduled industrial activities. After the meeting, the union’s team leader and president of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, informed reporters that the negotiating process had started indicating that they hoped the federal government would follow through on the agreements reached.
Federal government and ASUU have started a meeting.
Yet, the union recently sent a 21-day strike notice to the federal government due to unmet demands. These demands included paying all outstanding Salaries and Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) as well as renegotiating the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and eliminating the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). This resolution came about as a result of the ASUU National Executive Council (NEC) meeting that took place at the University of Ibadan and mandated that labor regulations be obeyed, including providing notice before taking any industrial action.
Subsequently, the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities have since started a meeting in Abuja. Another obstacle facing the Tinubu administration in its efforts to resolve the persistent problems with Nigeria’s educational system is the current strike notice. President Tinubu’s administration has been implored to be bound by the justifiable requests of ASUU and honor its commitment to a strike-free academic calendar in Nigerian universities. ASUU has an extensive track record of going on strike, mostly due to contradictions about pay, benefits, and working conditions.
Sixteen strikes were recorded between 1999 and 2024.
A three-month strike was observed between November 2018 and February 2019 as a result of the government’s inability to keep its end of previous agreements, especially with relation to funding and earned allowance payments. ASUU claimed that the government’s deployment of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) was inappropriate for the university system, and as a result, the union launched a nine-month strike in March 2020. The 2009 agreement’s renegotiation as well as other financial concerns were major focus points of the strike.
After discussions and certain promises from the administration, the strike was put on hold in December 2020. ASUU went on another eight-month strike in February 2022 as a result of the government’s inability to carry out the agreements reached during the previous negotiations. Between 1999 and 2024, ASUU went on strike sixteen times. Tragically, the union has always been seen by the Nigerian government and parents as a threat to the nation’s educational system. The most complex strike in the union’s history started on February 14, 2022, and lasted on October 17, 2022.
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During the eight-month strike period, the previous administration of President Muhammadu Buhari implemented a “No Work, No Pay” policy during the period. Tensions arose between the two sides as a result of the policy, with the union maintaining that the policy violated their rights as employees and was unjust and punishing. President Tinubu administration granted a partial exception on the “No Work, No Pay” directive and paid half of ASUU withheld salary during the eight months of 2022 upon assuming office, subject to the condition that it would not offer education unions a waiver of similar terms in the future.