NewzBy Joseph Erunke, Abuja The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has warned state governors whose universities are affected by the latest Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU ultimatum against allowing their failure to implement the 2025 agreement with the union to trigger another round of university strikes. NANS, in a strongly worded statement on Tuesday, said students must not be made to pay the price for disputes between ASUU and governments, insisting that any further shutdown of universities would deepen the academic, psychological and economic hardship already suffered by millions of Nigerian students. The students’ body spoke against the backdrop of ASUU’s decision to authorise 20 university branches to issue 14-day ultimatums over outstanding aspects of the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement, with industrial action potentially looming after the expiration of the ultimatums.
The development has already resulted in industrial action at Nasarawa State University, Keffi, heightening fears of a fresh disruption of the university academic calendar. Akinteye Babatunde Afeez, in the statement, acknowledged ASUU members’ right to demand the implementation of agreements reached with government, but urged the union not to direct the consequences of the dispute at students. According to him, Nigerian students have endured enough disruptions through previous strikes, which resulted in prolonged academic programmes, delayed graduation and significant psychological distress.
The students’ body particularly shifted the burden of responsibility to state governments, arguing that where outstanding obligations under the 2025 agreement concern state-owned universities, the affected governors should immediately intervene rather than allow universities to become casualties of administrative failures. NANS described any governor who allows an avoidable strike to cripple the university system despite increased allocations accruing to states as “irresponsible and unfit to be a Governor.” It accused such governors of showing “gross insensitivity” to students and university workers, describing failure to meet their obligations as a serious dereliction of responsibility. The association therefore demanded immediate action from governors of states with affected universities to resolve outstanding issues and ensure that benefits…
By Samuel Oyadongha, Yenagoa YENAGOA — Academic activities at Niger Delta University (NDU) and Bayelsa Medical University (BMU) have been disrupted following the declaration of an indefinite strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over what the union described as the Bayelsa State Government’s failure to implement agreements reached with its members. The industrial action followed separate enlarged congresses held at the Amassoma and Yenagoa campuses of the institutions, with lecturers resolving to withdraw their services until their demands are addressed. At the Amassoma campus, ASUU-NDU Chairperson, Comrade Oyinkepreye Lucky Bebeteidoh, confirmed the decision, saying the union was demanding the implementation of a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed with the state government in December 2025.
According to him, the agreement provided for implementation from January 2026, but the union claimed that the provision had yet to be implemented. “The agreement had an implementation timeline of January 2026. We are now in August 2026, and nothing has been done,” Bebeteidoh said.
The union is demanding implementation of what it described as the computed figure of the Consolidated Academic Salary Structure (CATA) for academic staff in the three state-owned universities, which it put at N336,936,294.87. Bebeteidoh said the agreement was signed on December 23, 2025, and urged the state government to implement it. He also compared the situation in Bayelsa with developments in other states, claiming that more than 10 states had implemented similar agreements despite receiving lower allocations from the Federation Account.
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