By Lawan Musa Danlami ( Baba Lawan)
October 14, 2025
When the Federal Government dusted off its favorite threat — “no work, no pay” — after the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) declared a two-week warning strike, few were surprised. It’s a line every government has rehearsed and every ASUU generation has heard. But after decades of intimidation, bans, and broken promises, Nigeria’s lecturers no longer flinch at such words.
ASUU’s defiance is not arrogance; it’s experience. The union has been through this cycle too many times — from the military jackboots of Babangida and Abacha to the democratic veneers of Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan, Buhari, and now Tinubu. And every time, one truth stands tall: threats don’t end strikes; only sincerity do
A Familiar Story with New Actors
When ASUU announced the current strike, the government responded with a tone Nigerians know too well — warnings, ultimatums, and reminders of the “no work, no pay” policy. But what Abuja calls firmness, lecturers see as old-fashioned bullying.
For ASUU, this policy isn’t new. It’s the same line used in 1988 when General Ibrahim Babangida banned the union. It was repeated under General Sani Abacha, whose regime treated every dissent as treason. The same threat resurfaced under President Olusegun Obasanjo, who accused ASUU of holding the nation hostage. Yet, after all the threats, each administration still ended up negotiating because education can’t function on coercion.
From Military Dictates to Democratic Decrees
During Babangida’s reign, ASUU was outlawed for demanding university autonomy and fair wages. Lecturers were jailed, their accounts frozen. But instead of silencing the union, those years strengthened its resolve. The 1990s saw academics teach under candlelight, using tattered books in decaying classrooms — yet they stood firm.
Under Abacha, the struggle became even deadlier. ASUU was again banned, and meetings were held in secret. But despite arrests and intimidation, the fight continued — not just for pay, but for dignity and intellectual freedom.
When democracy returned in 1999, Nigerians expected a break from that era of hostility. Instead, Obasanjo turned negotiation into confrontation, dismissing ASUU as “unpatriotic.” In 2001 and 2003, lecturers shut down campuses nationwide to protest poor funding. Out of that battle came the now-famous 2009 FG-ASUU Agreement, which every government since has promised but failed to implement.
The Cycle of Empty Promises
From Yar’Adua’s sincerity, to Goodluck Jonathan’s dialogue, to Buhari’s defiance, and now Tinubu’s threats, the same issues keep resurfacing: poor funding, unpaid allowances, infrastructural rot, and lack of university autonomy.
Jonathan at least tried negotiation. After a five-month strike in 2013, he released ₦200 billion for university revitalization. But implementation stopped halfway, and ASUU was back on the streets within years.
Buhari, in contrast, took a hard line. His government’s eight-month standoff with ASUU in 2022 crippled public universities. He invoked “no work, no pay” with military precision, insisting that “a worker who doesn’t work shouldn’t earn.” But as salaries were withheld, students roamed the streets, losing months of education. The policy punished lecturers and students alike — without solving a single problem
Tinubu’s Turn: Time to Break the Cycle
Now President Bola Tinubu inherits the same crisis. The same broken agreements. The same underfunded campuses. And the same “no work, no pay” rhetoric.
But Tinubu has an opportunity others wasted. He can choose dialogue over decree, empathy over ego. His administration must realize that ASUU’s strike is not just a wage dispute — it’s a cry for the survival of Nigeria’s university system.
Public universities today are in ruins. Lecture halls are overcrowded, hostels uninhabitable, and laboratories obsolete. Many of Nigeria’s brightest lecturers have migrated abroad in search of better conditions. Those who stay behind endure delayed pay, crumbling infrastructure, and little respect from the very government that expects miracles from them.
So when ASUU demands revitalization funds and improved welfare, it’s not blackmail — it’s realism. Without massive reinvestment, Nigeria’s universities will continue to produce half-baked graduates unprepared for the modern economy
Why “No Work, No Pay” Always Fails
The “no work, no pay” principle sounds tough but achieves nothing. It neither ends strikes nor rebuilds trust. Instead, it hardens positions. ASUU has proven again and again that it can withstand financial pressure. The union has faced ban, arrest, and hunger before. What it cannot withstand, however, is government deceit.
Every time the government threatens, ASUU responds with endurance. Every time it withholds salaries, lecturers find solidarity. If history has shown anything, it is that this union doesn’t panic under pressure — it persists.
> ASUU has heard “no work, no pay” since the 1980s. What it hasn’t heard is “no lies, no broken promises.”
The Cost of Endless Confrontation
The real victims of this stalemate are not politicians or professors — they are students. Young Nigerians spend four years chasing degrees that take six or seven to complete. Dreams are delayed; hope is dimmed. Parents pay more, only to see their children’s futures interrupted.
Meanwhile, private universities thrive, and the children of the elite study abroad. The strike becomes a class divider — one more way the poor pay for the government’s failure.
Negotiation: The Only Way Forward
It’s time to stop pretending that threats work. If every administration from Babangida to Buhari has used intimidation and still failed to solve the crisis, maybe the problem isn’t ASUU — maybe it’s the approach.
The Federal Government must:
Revisit and fully implement the 2009 FG-ASUU Agreement.
Establish a permanent negotiation mechanism that transcends political cycles.
Increase university funding to reflect global standards.
Treat lecturers with respect, not suspicion.
At the same time, ASUU must explore less disruptive strategies. Endless strikes hurt the very students the union claims to defend. Advocacy, legal action, and creative protest can complement negotiation without halting academic life.
Conclusion: Enough of the Empty Threats
From the iron hand of Babangida to the democratic indifference of Tinubu, the “no work, no pay” slogan has echoed through generations. Yet, ASUU stands — older, wiser, and still unbowed.
If the government truly values education, it must stop fighting lecturers and start funding learning. Threats will never rebuild universities. Intimidation will never inspire innovation.
What Nigeria needs is not another warning — but a willingness to negotiate with honesty and vision. Until that happens, ASUU will continue to remind the nation of one simple truth:
You can starve a lecturer, but you can’t silence knowledge.
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Opinion