The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has issued a four-week ultimatum to the Federal Government to conclude negotiations with all tertiary institution-based unions or face a nationwide strike.
NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, made this known during an interactive session with labour correspondents at the union’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday. The meeting followed discussions between the NLC leadership and representatives of various university and college unions.
Ajaero criticized the government’s “no work, no pay” policy against members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), describing it as unjust and counterproductive.
“We have decided to give the Federal Government four weeks to conclude all negotiations in this sector. The crisis goes beyond ASUU, and if after this period there’s no meaningful progress, the NLC’s National Executive Council will meet to decide on a nationwide action involving all workers,” Ajaero stated.
He further declared that henceforth, the NLC would adopt the reverse principle of “no pay, no work,” insisting that workers could not continue to suffer for government’s failure to honor agreements.
“We’ve discovered that most strikes in this country are caused by the government’s failure to keep its promises,” he added.
The ongoing ASUU strike, announced by Professor Chris Piwuna, the union’s National President, has crippled academic activities across public universities. The strike followed the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum issued to the government over unresolved issues, including unpaid salaries, poor infrastructure, and non-implementation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement.
Despite recent assurances from the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, that negotiations had reached an advanced stage—with ₦50 billion released for earned academic allowances and ₦150 billion allocated in the 2025 budget for needs assessment—ASUU rejected the government’s proposals as inadequate.
The NLC reiterated its total support for ASUU and other tertiary institution unions, urging all workers to prepare for full participation if the government fails to meet the four-week deadline.
“We will not stand by while the education sector collapses. The time to act is now,” Ajaero warned.
The emergency meeting also discussed strategies to protect university staff welfare and ensure sustainable funding for Nigeria’s public tertiary education system.
