ASUU strike spreads to more Nigerian universities as three Lagos universities shut indefinitely over lecturers’ demands

• ASUU has declared an indefinite strike at three Lagos State-owned universities over unresolved demands.

• LASU, LASUED and LASUSTECH are affected by the latest industrial action.

• The Lagos strike comes as ASUU’s national leadership continues to warn of a possible nationwide strike over unresolved issues.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expanded its ongoing industrial action to three Lagos State-owned universities, adding to a growing list of Nigerian universities where lecturers have begun strike action over unresolved demands.

Lagos State University (LASU), Lagos State University of Education (LASUED) and Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH) are now under an indefinite strike after the union said the Lagos State Government failed to address its demands before a 14-day ultimatum expired.

The latest action took effect on Tuesday, September 15, following the expiration of the ultimatum issued to the state government on August 31.

ASUU's Lagos State Government-owned Universities Joint Campus Group said the government failed to initiate dialogue before a September 13 deadline, despite a final warning issued on September 10.

The union's main demand is the full domestication and implementation of the December 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement across Lagos State-owned universities.

Among the provisions ASUU wants implemented is the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA), as well as welfare provisions covering serving and retired academic staff.

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The union said it would maintain the strike until meaningful engagement produces a satisfactory resolution and the Lagos State Government signs, domesticates and implements the applicable provisions of the 2025 agreement.

The three Lagos universities are not the first institutions to experience ASUU-related industrial action over the agreement.

The Lagos universities have joined other state-owned institutions where ASUU branches have taken industrial action over the implementation of the December 2025 agreement and other outstanding demands. 

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These include three Ondo State-owned universities — Adekunle Ajasin University, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology and the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo — which have been affected by strike action for weeks. 

When ASUU's national leadership issued its latest warning on September 11, it said some state university branches were already moving towards industrial action.

The wider dispute centres on an agreement reached between the Federal Government and ASUU in December 2025 after years of negotiations. ASUU has complained that implementation has been incomplete or inconsistent across federal and state universities.

The union has also demanded payment of 3.5 months of salaries it says remain withheld from the previous administration's seven-and-a-half-month salary withholding. It has raised concerns about unremitted deductions from lecturers' salaries, including pension contributions, cooperative deductions and union dues.

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The Federal Government has taken some steps towards implementing the agreement. On September 9, the Education Ministry announced that funds had been released for payment of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance to academic staff in federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education for January to August 2026.

However, ASUU has maintained that other outstanding issues have yet to be fully resolved.

The union's national leadership has threatened to reactivate its suspended nationwide strike, warning that public universities could face another national shutdown if the outstanding issues are not urgently addressed.

For students in the three Lagos universities, academic activities have been disrupted indefinitely, and ASUU says the strike will continue until the Lagos State Government addresses the union's demands and implements the relevant provisions of the 2025 agreement.