ASUU launches warning strike and challenges TETFund policy

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is engaged in multiple disputes within the Nigerian higher education sector. At the Federal University of Agriculture Zuru (FUAZ) in Kebbi State, the union has commenced a two-week warning strike. This industrial action is a response to the university management's failure to implement previously agreed-upon terms regarding staff welfare and working conditions. The union has indicated it will escalate to a full withdrawal of academic services if the impasse is not resolved within the two-week period.

On a national level, ASUU has condemned the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) over a new policy that categorizes public universities into “tenable” and “non-tenable” for its local postgraduate scholarship scheme. ASUU National President Professor Christopher Piwuna accused the agency of overstepping its mandate, arguing that TETFund should focus on managing and disbursing education tax funds rather than acting as a regulator. The union warned that this classification is discriminatory and could lead to overcrowding in preferred institutions while demoralizing academics in sidelined universities.