It gets to a point, Karen
FG is threatening ASUU with salary withholding
Intro: Good morning, Big Brains. I haven’t written The Big Daily in a minute now, but I’m glad to be back here again while Margaret gets a breather. See you this weekend or next!
This Week’s Big Question: “Do you think the Tinubu administration should amp up taxes or slow it down?” Share your responses with us, and if we think they’re fun enough, we’ll feature them in the newsletter :) so be on the lookout.
-Chigozie
Word count: ~ 1300
Reading time ~ 7 mins
Let’s get into the news you missed during the weekend:
FG is threatening ASUU with salary withholding
Tinubu has just freed a convicted murderer
The Big Deal
FG is threatening ASUU with salary withholding
If this edition of the newsletter gives you a likkle de ja vu, that’s absolutely the right feeling because we’ve been down this road more times than we care for— ASUU and FG are in a new boxing match.
On September 28, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) reminded the Federal Government (FG) again that it needs to prioritise the welfare of tertiary institutions (as well as their staff). Except this time, it was not a soft reminder—ASUU issued a 14-day ultimatum with a promise to commence a two-week warning strike, followed by an indefinite strike.
The union listed seven pressing issues that it wants the FG to address. Some of them include paying outstanding salary arrears, revitalising universities, and renegotiating the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement.
FG asked it to reconsider the strike, but ASUU was not impressed with its efforts, so just as the union said it would, it declared a two-week warning strike yesterday, Sunday, October 12. The strike, starting today, was announced by the National President of ASUU, Professor Chris Piwuna, at a press briefing.
A short while after the union announced the strike, the federal government struck back to say it’s not playing ASUU’s game, and would withdraw salary privileges if the union goes ahead with the strike.
In a statement released on Sunday, October 12, the Federal Ministry of Education, through its spokesperson, Folasade Boriowo, said the union was being unreasonable because it (the government) is trying to meet ASUU halfway.
To back up its threat, FG reminded anyone who cares to listen that the no-work-no-pay policy is fully legal and backed by Nigerian labour laws, and it will use it to ensure students are not affected by ASUU’s actions.
Why is this a big deal?
ASUU strikes have become so constant that they’re as familiar as the right hand. These strikes have happened countless times under different governments, yet the demands remain the same—the general welfare of Universities and a renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement.
This agreement in question is one that ASUU is particularly concerned about, and it is one both parties in this never-ending fight decided upon together, yet the government has not been able to meet it in full after nearly two decades.
The agreement in its entirety cannot fit into this edition of the newsletter, so we’ll only mention three: the allocation of 26% of federal and state budgets to education, with 50% of said budget going to universities; non-salary benefits such as housing loans, vehicle loans, sabbatical loans (etc.); and revitalisation of universities.
To really understand why this famous (or infamous, if you will) agreement from a decade ago has continued to haunt many Nigerian students, it’s better to examine it thoroughly and decide for yourself which party is being unreasonable.
While you access the entire agreement here, we’ll tackle the first one— allocation of 26% of national and state budgets to education. That FG, after all these years, has been unable to meet this particular demand is high-key insane because this is the barest minimum an academic union can ask for; in fact, a union such as ASUU should not have to ask for this because it should be the standard.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recommends that countries allocate 15 to 20% of their budget to education. FG could attempt to make a case for itself if it at least allocated up to 20% of the budget to education, but it is nowhere near this. In the 2025 budget, for instance, famous for being our largest budget in 65 years (at ₦54.99 trillion), the education sector got a miserly ₦3.52 trillion, a mere 7.07% of the budget.
The government’s attitude to this particular demand is even wilder when considering that its own National Policy on Education uses the 26% budget benchmark.
The effects of poor education budgets on future generations are pretty easy to see, and so is the long-term impact of constant strikes on students’ futures. Under the late Muhammadu Buhari, ASUU was on strike for over 628 days, yet no lasting solution was brought to this issue. The Tinubu administration came into power with bold promises, yet it has continued where preceding governments stopped—never-ending squabbles with ASUU that lead nowhere.
We know for sure that the government will resolve this issue with ASUU (probably after students have burned for it); we also know that this would, unfortunately, likely not be the last strike that we see.
Tinubu has just freed a convicted murderer
We’ll start this section of the newsletter by referencing a quote by an intelligent, anonymous Nigerian— “In this life, don’t allow them to kill you,” because there is now no justice for the dead.
Before, you could hope to get justice for your own or a family member’s death, but these days, murderers can apparently get away with their crimes; at least, that’s what President Tinubu is teaching us with his latest pardon to Maryam Sanda.
On Saturday, October 11, President Tinubu granted clemency to Sanda, who had already been billed to die by hanging for murder.
In November 2017, Sanda stabbed her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, to death with a broken bottle because she suspected him of cheating.
Though she denied it, and though it took more than two long years, the court was able to prove in 2020 that Sanda murdered her husband in cold blood, and was duly sentenced to death by hanging.
We know Nigeria is a place where the rule of law goes to die, but we did not expect President Tinubu to rub it in our faces as boldly as he has. We did not know that it was now ok to murder a person, but we learn every day.
As you would expect, sensible Nigerians have called on the President to take back this pardon because it would set a bad precedent but will he listen?
We don’t always do mobilisations here, but Big Brains, this is your sign to pick up your phones and pressure Tinubu to reverse this meaningless pardon. Speak out against it and speak out as loudly as you can.
Your next big read
→7 Largest Loans Nigeria Has Taken in 2025 and What They Were Supposed to Do For You: We all know at least one person who’s always in need of urgent 2k. Unfortunately, Nigeria is that “person” to every country that has a few dollar bills to spare. We listed down some of the most interesting loans the Tinubu administration has taken this year and the goals they were supposed to achieve.
→“If You’re Fearless In The US, You Can Do Anything”—Abroad Life: Aladi Akoh (30), a Nigerian data engineer and YouTuber, moved to the US in 2018 after two visa denials. From three tries at a H-1B visa to dating, marriage, culture shocks and homesickness, she shares the highs and lows of her life abroad, and how she has learned to live fearlessly in the US.
The Big Picks
Presidency releases full list of 175 convicts granted mercy by Tinubu: The Presidency on Saturday released the comprehensive list of the 175 convicts and former convicts that were granted presidential pardon and clemency by President Bola Tinubu.
Baptist Seminary warns USA against tagging Nigeria a religious violator: The Baptist Theological Seminary, Kaduna, has warned the US government against designating Nigeria as a country that violates religious freedom, warning that such a move could aggravate insecurity and deepen religious tension across the nation.
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