ASUU’s President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna said nothing meaningful has emerged from negotiation with the government, despite the one month ulti­matum it issued the government, which might soon elapse.

He criticised the federal government for undermining the process, warning that continued neglect of the education sector could have grievous consequences for the nation’s future. ­

 He made the observation in a communiqué he signed at the end of the National Executive Coun­cil (NEC) of ASUU held at the Taraba State University, Jalingo, Taraba State.

He said the “back-and-forth approach” to negotiations won’t work if all parties are to achieve a lasting resolution to the issues in dispute.

The Academic Union recalled that during its emergency NEC meeting of October 21, 2025, it had resolved to suspend its warning strike despite the government’s “grossly insufficient” offers, in deference to the goodwill and mediation efforts of students, parents, the media, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and other well-meaning Nigerians.

“The Union said the one-month window given to the gov­ernment for renegotiation was intended to allow for a conducive atmosphere for genuine engage­ment in good faith.

The communique partly reads: “It is now the responsi­bility of the government to take advantage of this opportunity to quickly resolve all the issues, in order to keep our children in school.”

The NEC, however, lamented that the government has con­tinued to treat education as a commercial good that must be self-sustaining, rather than as a social good that guarantees sus­tainable national development.

“It is regretted that the renego­tiation process has recorded little progress, rejecting the proposed salary increment as “a mere drop in the ocean” that cannot stem the brain drain bedevilling the uni­versity system.

While acknowledging some movement on non-monetary as­pects of the negotiations, ASUU maintained that the unresolved salary and conditions of service remain the sore points requiring a radical approach.

Piwuna accused some govern­ment officials of undermining the process through misrepre­sentation of offers and partial implementation of agreements, including the partial payment of promotion arrears dating back to 2017 and the belated release of third-party deductions.

“These gestures, at best, are confidence-boosting exercises and must not be framed as sub­stantial issues of the negotiation process. Government’s objective must not be to win the narrative but to solve the problems.”

The Union urged the govern­ment to judiciously use the re­maining days of the one-month window to achieve a holistic reso­lution, noting that the only way to protect the future of Nigeria was to invest in education.

Citing revenue data from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), ASUU dis­missed the government’s claims of paucity of funds, noting that both federal and state govern­ments have recorded significant increases in revenue between 2022 and 2024.

It argued that the lingering cri­sis in the education sector stems from a lack of political will rather than economic incapacity.

“The Federal Government re­ceived N3.42 trillion in 2022 and N4.65 trillion in 2024 — an in­crease of over 70 per cent. Similar­ly, state governments’ allocations rose from N3.92 trillion in 2022 to N5.81 trillion in 2024, a 62 per cent increase,” the Union noted.

Piwuna also urged traditional rulers, opinion leaders, students, the Nigeria Labour Congress, and civil society organisations to prevail on the government to do the right thing by giving uni­versity lecturers a living wage, as he insisted, “the surest way to protect the future of our country is to invest in education.”