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BREAKING: ASUU members rush to private varsities to enroll wards over fears of fresh strike
Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), have joined in the mad rush with other parents to enrol their wards into private universities as an option to the instability in the Nigerian public university system.
This is coming not only as a response to the eight-month strike that saw the public universities closed from February to October, 2022, but a possible further escalation of the situation, following the decision of the Federal Government to pay the ASUU members, who have since returned to work, half salaries.
In many of the private universities, ASUU members, who are also parents, are said to be queuing up with their counterparts in registering their children and wards to get uninterrupted education, which has now become almost impossible in the public tertiary institutions.
A parent in in Chrisland University, one of the private institutions, told Whirlwindnews, how he counted up to six ASUU members who brought their children for the tests and screening, mandatory for admissions into the institution.
“I counted up to six parents who came for the screening. And when it came to the meeting with the school authorities the lecturers explained that they were not sure of what would happen. There is the fear that another strike is knocking at the door, given the persistence of the problems in where they are teaching,” he said.
In fact, there are indications that another round of faceoff is brewing over the decision of the Federal Government not to bend on the issue of payment of salaries to the ASUU members for the period of the eight-month strike.
“They were paid pro-rata according to the number of days they worked in October,” was the explanation of the FG to the pay the ASUU members received as the October salaries, a development, which led to a disquiet in some Nigerian universities, and fears of another industrial dispute.
The affected teachers, were reportedly shocked, when they got alerts on Thursday and discovered that their salaries had been cut into half for the month, which prompted some of them abandoning the classrooms on the instruction of their leaders, who ordered them to stay away for now.
But speaking on the issue, the FG, explained that the development had nothing to do with selective treatment and half salary, having paid some of the lecturers in the system who were in the medical field in full, stating that the differential in the payment, was due to the fact that the medical teachers did not embark on strike for the period.
Olajide Oshundun, head of press and public relations, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, in a statement, which gave perspectives to the development, said the pro-rata payment was done because the union could not be paid for work not done.
Stressing that Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, did not direct the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), to short-pay the university lecturers, added: “Following the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which upheld the order of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), asking ASUU to go back to work, the leadership of the union wrote to the Minister, informing him that they have suspended the strike. The Federal Ministry of Education wrote to Ngige in a similar vein and our labour inspectors in various states also confirmed that they have resumed work.
“So, the minister wrote to the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, directing that their salaries should be restored. They were paid pro-rata according to the number of days they worked in October.
“Counting from the day the union suspended its industrial action, pro-rata was done because you cannot pay them for work not done. Everybody’s hands are tied.”
Dismissing a statement by Muhammad Al-Mustapha, chairperson of ASUU, Usman Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS) branch, that Ngige was biased in the payment of salaries to selected professional members of the union, the statement added: “Those obviously being referred to by the UDUS ASUU chairperson are members of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association (MDCAN) who abstained from the eight-month strike of ASUU. This is because they abhorred the incessant strikes by the union and its grave effects on medical education in Nigeria and the production of more medical doctors.
“Accusing the Minister of Labour and Employment of biased payment of salaries to selected professional members of ASUU is a barefaced distortion of facts.” Mustapha, who said he received information that a segment of the staff in the College of Health Sciences (CHS) had been paid seven months of their withheld salaries from March to September, added that this was due to a letter written to the Minister of Finance, instructing the exemption of the listed staff on the application of the ‘No Work, No Pay’ rule and that the medical lecturers abstained from the eight-month strike.
President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, announced the approval of the establishment of a Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats and ordered the immediate release of ₦10 billion as emergency intervention funding.
Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesman, who conveyed the development to the public, said the fund would strengthen the operational preparedness of the National Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and support critical national public health emergency response activities.
To be chaired by Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President, the committee with membership drawn from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and state representatives is also expected to get briefings on their plans to contain the disease.
Onanuga, stated that Tinubu also specifically directed all states hosting international airports and international border corridors, as well as relevant MDAs, to submit their plans, funding requirements and intervention needs for consideration and coordinated implementation.
Stating that the President’s move followed a stakeholder meeting convened under the CoS to review Nigeria’s preparedness and develop strategies against the possible importation of Ebola into the country., the statement informed that the Task Force would also intensify passenger screening at all international airports through enhanced temperature checks and crowd-control protocols.
Other measures would also include enhanced monitoring of passengers arriving through high-risk airline routes, including Air Uganda, Rwanda Air, Air Tanzania, Air Angola, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines; and the immediate activation of referral and isolation centres at the Lagos and Abuja international airports, with other airports to follow.
Other measures include the mandatory activation of QR code-based pre-arrival health declaration systems for passengers originating from or transiting through designated high-risk countries, as well as the disinfection of departure halls, cargoes, baggage areas and airport facilities as precautionary environmental measures.
The President also directed the advisory group to consult with security, diplomatic and aviation bodies on regulating flights from affected and designated high-risk countries and mandated the task force to designate specific airports or terminals for high-risk flights to enable controlled screening and isolation procedures, and to consider adjusting flight schedules to minimise interaction between high-risk passengers and other travellers.
Justice Akintoye Aluko of the Federal High Court, Lagos on Tuesday ordered the remand of Paul Jibrin Oweleke in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) over alleged cybercrime offences linked to social media broadcasts that allegedly called for overthrow of President Bola Tinubu.
Specifically, Oweleke, in a two-count charge was accused of publishing posts on his online platform known as “Oweleke TV”, urging the Nigerian military to remove the President from office in a manner similar to takeovers in some West African countries, an act the agency said bordered on incitement and the use of a computer system to disseminate content considered prejudicial to national security and constitutional governance.
Oweleke’s broadcasts, the agency stressed, were capable of inciting public disorder and promoting disaffection against the government, which will undermine the country’s democracy.
Legal argument had ensued immediately after Oweleke, pleaded not guilty to the charges, with his lawyer kicking vehemently against the prayer of the agency that the court should order his remand pending the commencement of trial, on the ground that a bail application had already been filed and served on the prosecution.
But Aluko, who was persuaded to grant the prayer, went with the DSS, while adjourning the matter to June 16 for the hearing of the bail application, stating that Oweleke, would remain in the facility of the agency pending the outcome.
By June 29 all medical doctors in public hospitals in Nigeria will drop their stethoscopes and other instruments of healthcare, unless the Federal Government settles all unpaid allowances, salary arrears, delayed training funds, and worsening welfare concerns of its members across the country’s health sector.
This was the notice served to the government on Monday, through The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), the umbrella under which the doctors operate, after rising from Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) held in Kano.
In the 21-day ultimatum to the government, the doctors warned that it would not be able to guarantee industrial harmony if the issues remain unresolved within the 21-day period.
In the resolution conveying their position, signed by Mohammad Suleiman, President, Shuaibu Ibrahim, Secretary-General, and Abdulmajid Yahya Ibrahim, Publicity and Social Secretary, on Friday, the body regretted that government had failed to fulfil several commitments to doctors despite repeated assurances and engagements.
“The association hereby declares an industrial dispute with the federal government of Nigeria on the outlined matters above and cannot guarantee industrial harmony after the 21-day window period given to address all the demands,” the communique reads.
The association said it is giving the federal government the 21-day window to commence concrete actions towards the development and implementation of a national healthcare workers assault prevention and response protocol
and the initiation of the necessary legislative process to address the menace.
NARD also demanded the release and payment of the 2026 medical residency training fund (MRTF) to all eligible resident doctors nationwide within the next 21 days.
The association questioned the unpaid salary and promotion arrears in several federal and state health institutions, as well as discrepancies in professional allowances reflected in members’ May 2026 salaries.
It highlighted the welfare issues affecting house officers, including salary delays, unpaid arrears, and difficulties with internship placement and onboarding processes that remain unresolved.
It also accused Motunrayo Omidiran, executive chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), of delaying the issuance of letters of compliance to federal health institutions, noting that the delay has hampered recruitment efforts, manpower shortages, and brain drain in the sector.
NARD expressed worries about the increasing assaults, harassment, intimidation, and violent attacks against doctors while on duty, demanding the arrests, investigation, and prosecution of perpetrators.
It called for the establishment of a national healthcare workers’ assault prevention and response protocol within 21 days by the federal government and security agencies.
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