By Fathiu Jimoh
When Zainab Mudasiru, a graduand of Zoology, was preparing to submit her final year project, she was full of joy, thinking she would finally reunite with her family the following week. Little did she know that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) was about to announce a two-week warning strike. In that moment after the announcement, it felt as if Zainab’s heart stopped. The long-awaited trip would no longer be forthcoming.
For her, the strike came like a heavy blow, because with the strike, all her plans changed. Her supervisor stopped attending to her work, and her project submission was delayed. What was supposed to be a week of celebrating suddenly turned to a week of certainty.
“It is a heartbreak to me,” she said. “I had planned that before the end of this month, I would leave the campus after binding my project. But now, everything has changed because of the two-week strike
Zainab is not alone. Muhammad Bashiru, a nursing student, felt that the two-week warning strike meant more than just a pause in academic activities, it reopened old fears.
“The strike may seem short, but the damage is deep. We were already behind, and now everything is rushed.” At 30, Basiru worried that another long disruption could affect his future plans. He had spent several years before gaining admission into the Faculty of Medical Sciences, and now, with each strike, his dream of graduating and joining the NYSC felt farther away
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) began a two-week warning strike on Monday, 13th of October, 2025, following the Federal Government’s delay in meeting several long-standing demands. The union said the strike was necessary because the government had failed to conclude the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement and had not released the withheld three and a half months’ salaries of lecturers. Other issues included the demand for better funding and revitalisation of public universities, payment of outstanding salary arrears and promotion arrears, release of withheld third-party deductions, and an end to the victimisation of some lecturers in LASU, Prince Abubakar Audu University, and FUTO.
However, ASUU suspended the strike after its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held overnight and ended by 4:00 am on Wednesday, October 22, 2025. The National President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, said the suspension came after “useful engagements” with government representatives and as a show of goodwill to Nigerians who intervened, including students, parents, and the Nigeria Labour Congress. He added that while progress had been made in discussions, more work still needed to be done. ASUU, therefore, gave the government four weeks to meet its demands, saying the suspension was only to allow dialogue to continue in good faith.
More Ordeals
For Hassan Faruq, a chemistry student, the news of the strike came as a shock for him, every strike he had been witnessing since he was a student always came with a price: difficulties. He told this reporter that his accommodation expired before the strike, which forced him to nearly borrow money to renew it. “My foodstuffs are almost finished,” he added. “I had already calculated everything I would spend before going home, but the strike changed everything.”
He also added that he has already collected money from home, telling his parents he would not stay more than two months after the session ended. “ Even if I ask for more money now, they won’t send it,” he said sadly.
Disrupted Dreams, Uncertain Future
Fatimah Kamal, a student of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, described how the short strike disrupted their preparation for their final exam. Fatimah was almost done with revision and mock presentation when the strike suddenly started. I had read far beyond the syllabus, but when the exams were postponed because of the strike, I became confused and lost focus.
Deborah Ayomide had an even more painful story. She lost a postgraduate scholarship abroad because she could not meet the application deadline. “I didn’t have my certificate or statement of result,” she said sadly. “The delay has cost me a whole year of waiting.”
Chuka Eze Elizabeth, a final-year student of Political Science, also said that a single day strike can change everything. She pleaded that the strike should not be more than one month, so she could be able to go to the NYSC