The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has raised the alarm over the worsening economic condition of Nigerians, saying rising inflation, fuel subsidy removal and currency devaluation have severely eroded workers’ purchasing power and pushed more citizens into poverty.
The union said Nigerians were experiencing what it described as “growth without development”, arguing that improvements being reported in macroeconomic indicators had failed to translate into better living conditions for ordinary citizens.
ASUU consequently backed the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on the demand for a review of the national minimum wage and advocated the indexing of wages to inflation to protect workers from continually rising living costs.
President of ASUU, Professor Chris Piwuna, disclosed the union’s position in a statement issued after its emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on September 5, 2026, and made available to newsmen on Friday in Abuja.
According to the union, the removal of fuel subsidy, currency devaluation and other economic policies of the Federal Government had compounded the hardship faced by workers and other Nigerians, with access to basic necessities becoming increasingly difficult.
ASUU criticised what it described as the government’s emphasis on macroeconomic growth without corresponding improvement in the welfare and living conditions of Nigerians.
The union said the economic situation had been worsened by Nigeria’s adherence to prescriptions from international financial institutions, including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Against the backdrop of the economic hardship, ASUU also threatened to reactivate its suspended nationwide strike over what it described as the poor implementation of the December 2025 Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN)-ASUU Agreement.
The union demanded the immediate payment of the outstanding three-and-a-half months’ salaries withheld from its members during the 2022 industrial dispute, as well as the remittance of pension contributions, cooperative deductions and union check-off dues deducted from lecturers’ salaries.
Piwuna said the continued failure of the Federal and state governments to fully implement the agreement, alongside the withholding of salaries and third-party deductions, had created serious uncertainty over the welfare and working conditions of university lecturers.
He warned that ASUU could no longer guarantee uninterrupted academic activities if the issues were not urgently resolved.
According to him, the Federal Government had paid four months out of the seven-and-a-half months’ salaries withheld from members during the 2022 strike, leaving a balance of three-and-a-half months unpaid.
He said the value of the outstanding salaries had been significantly eroded by inflation and currency devaluation since 2022, despite lecturers continuing to discharge their responsibilities.
“Nigerians should not blame ASUU if we are forced to resume the suspended action on account of no satisfactory response from government,” Piwuna said.
He warned that the incomplete or haphazard implementation of the 2025 agreement, non-payment of withheld salaries and non-remittance of third-party deductions constituted a “recipe for industrial crisis” in Nigeria’s public universities.
The union said that, except for recent attempts by the Federal Ministry of Education to defray outstanding salaries for federal universities of agriculture, there had been no sustained effort to resolve the issue.
Piwuna lamented that lecturers were forced to contend with uncertainty every month over when and how much of their salaries would be paid.
According to him, unless immediate and concrete steps were taken to address issues bordering on the welfare and well-being of academics, ASUU NEC would not accept responsibility for calling out its members on a nationwide strike within the shortest possible time.
The union also raised concern over billions of naira in unremitted third-party deductions, including pension contributions, staff cooperative deductions and check-off dues.
According to ASUU, the failure to remit the deductions amounted to a double financial loss for lecturers, as members were denied access to funds that could have been used for other purposes while also losing potential returns on the money.
The union alleged that the withholding of such deductions could be connected to its opposition to the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
On the implementation of the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement, the union acknowledged efforts by some state governments and commended the governors of Abia, Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Kebbi, Katsina and Borno states for commencing implementation.
It also noted commitments by the governments of Kano, Edo, Plateau, Taraba, Gombe and Bayelsa states to begin implementation in September or October.
The union, however, warned governors yet to implement the agreement to urgently do so to avert industrial crises in their state-owned universities.
ASUU also expressed concern over the reported extension of the tenure of the Vice-Chancellor of Osun State University, Professor Clement Adegbooye, by Governor Ademola Adeleke, alleging that the extension was contrary to the law establishing the university, which it said provided for a single five-year tenure for the vice-chancellor.
The union further alleged that the law was hurriedly amended to accommodate the extension, warning that such a development could undermine university autonomy and standards of governance.
ASUU urged the university’s Governing Council to be allowed to discharge its statutory responsibilities without political interference.
The union called on students, parents, labour leaders, media practitioners and other Nigerians to intervene before the brewing crisis in the university system escalated, while maintaining that it remained open to dialogue with the Federal and state governments.
“ASUU-NEC resolved to notify all concerned that the union may activate its suspended strike action without any further notice if the critical issues raised in this release are not speedily addressed,” it said.