The senate has expressed disappointment over the federal government’s failure to honour agreements reached with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), pledging to intervene to end the ongoing two-week warning strike.
Mohammed Dandutse, senator representing Katsina south and chairman of the senate committee on tertiary institutions and TETFund, spoke on Friday while reeling out resolutions reached after a closed-door meeting with the leadership of ASUU in Abuja.
Dandutse said the senate would convene a joint meeting involving the ministry of education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), and ASUU to ensure a quick resolution to the crisis.
“The senate is not happy that the agreement by the government with ASUU has not been fulfilled,” the senator said.
“We will study the issues raised and take appropriate steps to ensure an amicable resolution.
“We want the leadership of ASUU to write all the issues they raised so that we can face the ministry of education together by Tuesday or Wednesday.
“You cannot teach when your stomach is empty. We will engage the executive and ensure these issues are addressed once and for all.”
Dandutse also said the panel would submit a detailed report to the senate president and urge President Bola Tinubu to intervene personally.
“We will not let this matter rest. Education is the backbone of national development, and the senate will not stand by while our universities collapse,” he said.
He added that the senate would also engage Nyesom Wike, the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), to prevent the encroachment of land belonging to the University of Abuja.
Olubiyi Fadeyi, senator representing Osun central, decried the state of Nigerian universities and backed ASUU’s concerns.
“We are all products of Nigerian universities, and what we see today is heartbreaking,” he said.
“ASUU’s demands are not unreasonable. What’s unacceptable is the government’s habit of signing agreements and abandoning them.”
Chris Piwuna, ASUU president, accused the federal government of abandoning its responsibilities and underfunding the education sector.
Piwuna said Nigerian lecturers have become the poorest in Africa despite their sacrifices and contributions to national development.
“A professor in South Africa earns N6 million monthly, in Ghana N1.5 million, but in Nigeria, a full professor earns less than N500,000,” he said.
“Our salaries can’t attract serious scholars from anywhere. Even colleagues in Uganda and Zimbabwe earn far more. This is a national disgrace.”
He warned that the poor remuneration and deteriorating working conditions were forcing the country’s brightest minds to seek opportunities abroad.
“The government only remembers us when we strike. We’ve been patient, but patience has its limits. That’s not how nations grow,” Piwuna said.
He added that the union is demanding the immediate payment of three-and-a-half months of withheld salaries, unremitted pension deductions, and the release of N50 billion revitalisation funds allegedly withheld by the ministry of education.
“The senate appropriated that money for universities, not for colleges or polytechnics,” he said.
“The ministry is playing politics with education. We want the senate to compel them to release it immediately.”
He noted that the union is ready to end the strike immediately if the government demonstrates a genuine commitment to resolving the crisis.
“We don’t want students at home or parents losing sleep. Give us reason to believe, and we’ll end this strike immediately,” he said.
However, the lecturers insisted that without real reforms—not political promises—peace in Nigerian universities would remain elusive.
The academic union president also raised concerns over an alleged attempt by the FCT minister to seize parts of the University of Abuja’s land meant for academic and agricultural development.
“That land is crucial for research, expansion, and innovation,” the union said. “If the minister succeeds, he would be choking the future of education in the capital,” Piwuna said.
