President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the Federal Ministry of Education to take all necessary measures to prevent further strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and ensure uninterrupted academic activities across Nigerian tertiary institutions.
Speaking to State House correspondents after meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, said the President gave him a “clear and firm mandate” to keep university students in school.
“The President has mandated us that he doesn’t want ASUU to go on strike, and we’re doing everything humanly possible to ensure that our students stay in school,” Alausa said. “The last strike they went on for about six days was not really needed. We’re talking to them.”
Alausa explained that the Federal Government had met “virtually all” of ASUU’s demands and returned to the negotiation table to resolve outstanding issues. He noted that part of his visit to the Villa was to brief the President on the ongoing discussions and to seek further concessions.
The minister dismissed reports of a four-week ultimatum, clarifying that the administration has harmonised negotiations with all tertiary education unions under a single body — the Alhaji Yayale Ahmed Federal Government Negotiating Committee with Tertiary Institutions — which now engages both academic and non-academic unions across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
“Everything is calm. They all understand this is a listening government,” Alausa said. “We will resolve their problems — a significant part has already been addressed.”
He emphasised that the Tinubu administration remains committed to transparency, accountability, and evidence-based governance in education management.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Minister launched the Federal Tertiary Institution Governance and Transparency Dashboard, a new digital platform designed to make financial and institutional data from universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education publicly accessible.
“We now require institutions to report data on student enrollment, budget allocations, TETFund and NELFund interventions, and local and international grants. These are now publicly available,” he said.
Alausa said the portal would promote transparency and improve governance, with the oversight of the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).
The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Dr. Adebowale Adeokun, also participated in the launch to reinforce compliance with procurement laws in tertiary institutions.
Alausa lauded President Tinubu’s “fervent and benevolent love for education,” adding that his economic and institutional reforms were already yielding positive outcomes.
“Our GDP grew by 4.23 percent last quarter. With reforms on fuel subsidy removal, foreign exchange harmonisation, and infrastructure expansion, Nigeria is back to governance,” he said.
