A claim that Nigerian universities have completed two academic sessions without embarking on strike action has circulated online.
The post was shared by an X user, @fattylincorn_01 with a claim that the feat was only possible under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Nigerian government.
READ THIS: No, ASUU strike has not been called off!
The post read:
“For the first time in history, Universities completed 2 academic sessions without a single strike.
Thanks to PBAT Administration”
It has generated more than 88,000 views, over 1,800 likes, and over 300 reposts as of May 12, 2025.
CLAIM
Nigerian universities have completed two academic sessions without strike action since May 2023.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is TRUE, as media reports confirmed.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu was inaugurated as Nigeria’s president on May 29, 2023, after winning the nation’s 2023 presidential election. His administration quickly introduced bold economic reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidy and naira devaluation, aimed at stabilizing the economy. These reforms, though praised by some economists, triggered inflation, fuel price hikes, and hardship protests. The education sector, already strained, continued to face challenges amid the reforms.
Before Tinubu’s administration, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had embarked on an eight-month strike in 2022 under the then President Muhammadu Buhari, protesting unmet agreements on funding, salaries, and the rejection of UTAS by the Nigerian government. Since May 2023 when Tinubu’s tenure kicked off, there has not been any nationwide strike action so far from federal universities workers. Although, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) declared a 7-day warning strike – (beginning from March 18, 2024) to demand the payment of four months of their members’ withheld salaries after the 2022 nationwide strike, the strike never hold. This was averted following concerted efforts between the Nigerian government and both university workers’ unions.
In October 2023, Tinubu approved the payment of four months’ withheld salaries to ASUU members following a partial waiver of the “No Work, No Pay” policy. Also in April 2025, the Federal Government of Nigeria disbursed N50 billion to settle outstanding earned allowances owed to academic and non-academic staff in federal universities, Nairametrics.com reported. The union still demands full implementation of prior agreements, leaving the potential for future unrest.
To verify the claim, we reviewed the history of industrial strike actions by academic unions from 1999 to date. Using keyword searches, we compiled a timeline from credible reports documenting the occurrence of strikes. A Pulse.ng report provided a detailed account of timelines of academic strike actions from 1999 till 2018. This timeline was further expanded till 2020 by another news platform, African Explained. The timelines can also be found in an ICIR report after ASUU marked one years of uninterrupted academic calendar in 2024.
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Our fact-checker also examined the claim that universities have completed two academic calendars without strike interruption. On average, one academic calendar spans nine months. Since President Tinubu’s inauguration on May 29, 2023, there has been no strike action in any federal universities more than 22 months after. This duration is enough to accommodate uninterrupted two academic calendar years.
THE VERDICT
The claim that Nigerian universities have completed two academic sessions without strike action since May 2023 is TRUE. Multiple reports confirmed that there was no strike action between May 2023 and April 2025.
