The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has warned state governments yet to implement the 2025 Federal Government–Academic Staff Union of Universities (FGN-ASUU) Agreement against allowing their failure to trigger another strike that would disrupt academic activities and burden students.

NANS also appealed to the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to shelve any planned industrial action, urging the union to direct its grievances towards the governments and institutions responsible for outstanding aspects of the agreement.

The students’ body made the call in reaction to the resolutions of ASUU’s National Executive Council (NEC), which authorised affected university branches to issue 14-day ultimatums over the implementation of the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement, after which industrial action could commence.

President of NANS, Comrade Akinteye Babatunde Afeez, in a statement on Tuesday, expressed concerns that the development has already affected Nasarawa State University, Keffi, where the institution’s ASUU chapter has commenced industrial action.

While acknowledging the right of university lecturers to demand the implementation of agreements reached with government, Afeez said students should not be made to bear the consequences of disputes to which they were not parties.

He warned that any fresh disruption of the academic calendar would impose another burden on millions of Nigerian students who had endured prolonged strikes, delayed graduation and extended academic programmes in the past.

“As the apex representative body representing millions of Nigerian students, we are particularly concerned that any further disruption of the academic calendar through industrial action would impose yet another burden on millions of students,” the NANS President said.

He urged the National Executive Council of ASUU to reconsider any action that could lead to the closure of universities and instead intensify engagement with state governments and university authorities responsible for outstanding implementation issues.

NANS expressed particular concern that only 20 university branches had been authorised to proceed with the 14-day ultimatum, noting that the failure of state governments to implement the 2025 agreement remained a major issue in some of the affected institutions.

The students’ body, therefore, called on the affected state governments to immediately honour their obligations under the agreement, resolve outstanding issues involving academic staff and ensure that all eligible staff members receive their entitlements without further delay.

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The NANS President particularly warned governors against allowing avoidable industrial action to cripple universities in their respective states despite increased allocations accruing to state governments.

Afeez described failure by affected state governments to resolve the issues as “gross insensitivity” and a dereliction of responsibility to students and academic staff.

The association said it would not stand by while students were forced out of their classrooms because of what it described as the irresponsibility and administrative failures of state governments.

“We therefore call on the Governors whose state universities have been authorised by ASUU NEC to, as a matter of urgency, intervene and ensure that the benefits due to university staff reach them,” Afeez said.

He, however, appealed to the governors to place students’ interests at the centre of their governance, stressing that “the classroom must remain the last place where the consequences of an administrative failure are borne by innocent students.”

He reaffirmed NANS’ commitment to constructive engagement with ASUU, the Federal Government and university managements to ensure uninterrupted academic activities.

“Nigerian students deserve uninterrupted education,” he said.