The National Association of Nigerian Students Joint Campus Committee (NANS JCC), Lagos State Axis, has warned the Lagos State Government that students could embark on mass action if the ongoing dispute with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is not resolved promptly.
The warning came after ASUU declared a total and indefinite strike across Lagos State University (LASU), Lagos State University of Education (LASUED) and Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH) over the implementation and domestication of the 2025 agreement.
In a statement signed by the NANS JCC Lagos chairman, Comrade Quadri Ishola Odewunmi, the students’ body called on the state government to reopen negotiations with ASUU and settle the outstanding issues affecting academic activities.
Odewunmi described the shutdown as a serious concern for students and warned that another prolonged disruption could further unsettle the academic calendar across the three institutions.
“As the Chairman of the NANS JCC, Lagos State Axis, I call on the Lagos State Government to immediately engage ASUU and resolve all outstanding issues surrounding the implementation and domestication of the applicable 2025 agreement,” he stated.
ASUU’s industrial action followed the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum issued to the Lagos State Government on August 31. The union had demanded full domestication and implementation of the December 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement across the state-owned universities. It also cited academic allowances and welfare provisions among the issues at stake.
NANS said students had already experienced sufficient interruptions to their education and should not bear the consequences of an unresolved disagreement between the government and university lecturers.
“We recognise the legitimate responsibilities of government to manage public resources, and we equally recognise the concerns of our lecturers,” Odewunmi said. “However, the classroom must not be the battleground for unresolved agreements.”
He called for dialogue, negotiation and a firm commitment from the government to settle the dispute and restore academic activities.
The students’ body also cautioned that patience among students could run out if the institutions stayed closed without a resolution.
Odewunmi stated that NANS JCC Lagos would not “stand by and watch the academic future of Lagos students become collateral damage”.
He added that the association would be compelled to mobilise students for mass action against the government if the shutdown persisted because of what it described as failure to honour or implement agreed commitments.
The warning introduces a new pressure point in the dispute. While ASUU’s immediate action has already disrupted academic activities, student mobilisation could expand the matter beyond negotiations between the lecturers’ union and the state government.
NANS, however, particularly emphasised that confrontation was not its preferred route.
“Our preference, however, is not confrontation. Our preference is consultation, dialogue and consolidation,” the statement read. “We want peace, but peace must not come at the expense of the future of our students.”
The association consequently appealed to the Lagos State Government to act swiftly, resolve the outstanding issues and protect the academic calendar from another prolonged interruption.
“The students of Lagos are watching,” Odewunmi declared.
The three affected institutions are LASU, LASUED and LASUSTECH, all owned by the Lagos State Government. ASUU has stated that its strike will continue until the disputed provisions of the 2025 agreement are satisfactorily addressed.
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