ABUJA, Nigeria — Examinations at several Nigerian universities were thrown into disarray on Monday, October 13, 2025, as the two-week warning strike declared by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) took effect.
The industrial action, announced last week, is in protest over the federal government’s failure to conclude the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement and to address a series of unresolved financial and welfare issues affecting academic staff.
Among the universities affected are the Federal University Dutse in Jigawa State, the University of Jos in Plateau State, and the University of Benin in Edo State.
However, institutions such as Bayero University Kano and the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) in Bauchi had completed their examinations before the strike commenced, narrowly avoiding disruption.
At the Federal University Dutse, students said their second-semester examinations, which began on Tuesday, September 30, 2025 and were scheduled to end by Saturday, October 18, have been suspended.
“We are having BIO 204 today, but they have shifted it to when they come back from the strike,” said Abdulqawiy Abdulazeez, a Zoology student at the university.
A final-year Economics student, Yunusa Abubakar, said his last paper, originally scheduled for Wednesday, October 15, 2025, will no longer hold.
He added that his scheduled meeting with his project supervisor was also cancelled because of the strike.
Students at the University of Benin confirmed that their examinations were halted on Monday following compliance by the lecturers.
Circulars announcing the suspension of academic activities were circulated across students’ WhatsApp groups.
In contrast, students at Bayero University Kano were seen leaving campus with their luggage, telling reporters that they had completed their semester examinations and were unaffected by the strike.
Similarly, at ATBU Bauchi, while most examinations had been concluded, some final-year students said they were still awaiting their project defences.
ASUU’s latest action is part of ongoing demands for improved working conditions and fulfilment of long-standing commitments by the government.
The union is insisting on the conclusion of the renegotiated 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement, the payment of withheld three-and-a-half months’ salaries, outstanding 25–35 per cent salary arrears, and promotion arrears spanning more than four years.
The lecturers are also demanding the release of withheld cooperative contributions and other entitlements deducted but not remitted by the government.
The two-week warning strike marks ASUU’s latest confrontation with the federal authorities over what the union describes as the persistent neglect of the education sector.
If the issues remain unresolved, union officials have warned that a full-scale, indefinite strike could follow, further disrupting Nigeria’s already strained tertiary education calendar.
