ASUU Strike History From 1988 Till Date

If you live in Nigeria and is up to three years old, then ASUU Strike shouldn’t be new to you. If you’re a foreigner reading this, then ASUU stands for Academic Staff Union of Universities. Most Nigerian Universities are part of ASUU and embark on strike mostly when the Federal Government fails to meet their demand.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) was formed in 1978 and the first ever ASUU strike happened in 1988 (10 years after ASUU was formed). Nigerian Universities have been on strike for a cumulative period of three years between 1999 and 2020.

In 1988 the Union organized a National Strike to obtain fair wages and University autonomy. As a result, ASUU was proscribed on 7 August 1988 and all its property seized. It was allowed to resume in 1990, but after another strike was again banned on 23 August 1992 (Nwala, 1994).

Poor funding of Universities and inadequate payment of academic staff have been the major causes of ASUU Strike. The major effects of ASUU strike in Nigeria are slow academic Calendar, poor students performance, increase in crime rate and loss of confidence in the Nigerian Education System.

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Years ASUU Have Gone On Strike (1988-Till Date)

1. 1988: First ASUU Strike ever, to obtain fair wages and university autonomy.
2. 1992: Second ASUU strike in history.
3. 1999: After Obasanjo was sworn-in as president and it lasted for five months.
4. 1994: Protest against the dismissal of staff by the Sani Abacha military regime.
5. 1996: Protest against the dismissal of staff by the Sani Abacha military regime.
6. 2001: over the reinstatement of 49 lecturers sacked at Unilorin. This strike lastest for three months
7. 2002: Obasanjo’s administration failed to implement the agreement. The strike lasted for two weeks.
8. 2003: Due to non-implementation of previous agreements. Lasted for 6 months.
9. 2005: The lecturers went on strike for just two weeks.
10. 2006: Another one week strike because the Federal Government refused to implement the agreement.
11. 2007: Three months strike because the federal government remains unfaithful.
12. 2008: One week strike,  improved salary scheme and reinstatement of 49 lecturers were reasons for the strike.
13. 2009: Four months strike which led to another agreement with Federal Government
14. 2010: Another big strike which lasted for five months all because FG was caching cruise with ASUU
15. 2011: 59 days strike as the federal government refuses to honor the 2009 agreement. It ended in 2012.
16. 2013: Federal Government failed to honour the agreement with ASUU leading to 5 Months strike.
17. 2017: Another strike due to unresolved issues with the FG.
18. 2018: Two months of ASUU strike which started in November 2018 ended in 2019.
19. 2019: The 2018 ASUU strike ended in 2019.
20. 2020: The strike began on March 9th
21. 2022: February 14th, 2022 to October 17th, 2022 (8th Months Strike).

The longest ASUU Strike in Nigerian History lasted for 8 months. It started in February 14th, 2022 and ended on October 17th, 2022 after court intervention.

Total Number Of Months ASSU Have Strike…

Calculating the total number of months ASUU have gone on strike, it brings us to a rough estimate that ASUU have gone on strike for approximately 36 months which is approximately equal to 3 years of ASUU strike. Too bad right?

Did you Know? ASUU served as a substitution for the now-defunct Nigerian Association of Teachers formed in 1965.

Did you know? The longest strike record is that which took place for six months in 2003 thus ending in 2002 and the second-longest being that in 2010 which lastest for 5 months and a week.

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