ASUU Strike: We’ll Ground Airports, Students Vow
The leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has vowed to ground activities at international airports across the country to protest against the seven-month impasse between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.
The Chairman, NANS National Task Force on ‘End ASUU Strike Now,’ Ojo Raymond Olumide, who spoke in Akure, decried the attitude of the federal government towards the striking lecturers as well as education as a whole.
Olumide said that “the four-day shutdown of busy highways and expressways had been a success, hence the move to disrupt international travels for the bourgeois and the government to feel the pains that had subjected students in the past seven months.
According to him, the students were already tired of pleading with both parties over the need to end the strike.
Olumide said that the airports that will be occupied will remain grounded until the strike is called off, adding that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration must pay all outstanding arrears and salaries of the lecturers.
“We shall begin another round of protest next week by storming the airspaces to #OccupyTheAirports. We want to let the world know about the pain and anguish students are going through.
“Nigerian students whose parents create the commonwealth cannot continue to be suffering at home alongside our lecturers while the few who gain from our sweat and blood have their kids abroad jollying and flexing.
“We call on students to rise and join us as we take our destinies into our hands. Our demands remain consistently clear and simple. We call on ASUU leadership for a meeting as soon as possible to discuss Solidarity actions and plan for the next phase of the struggles.
“Nigerian Students are not subjected to security agencies, and we haven’t seen any step from them to avert the ASUU strike. He said they could not tell them that they were not aware of what was going on.
“Being on the road for the past four days, and had garnered a lot
of solidarity. Grounding the airport is for us to get solidarity, and we will keep on grounding the local and international airports. They know the effect of us grounding the airport; the only thing we request from them is to open our campuses.
“They should give enough budgetary allocation, we are not asking for 26 per cent, we are asking for 22 per cent.
“We pass a vote of No Confidence on both Ministers of Labour and Education. We call on the Buhari government to pay all outstanding arrears and salaries of the lecturers.
“The policy of ‘No Work No Pay” is a Fascist one; it is, therefore, condemnable and unacceptable to all the millions of students in Nigeria.
“We will, by this statement, not beg again. We shall be mobilizing all students to shut down the country. No Education! No Movement!
Olumide, who berated the Minister of Works, Babatunde Raji Fashola, over his purported comment on the barricade of federal roads by the students, said that the strike had continued to linger due to the absence of children of the political class in public universities.
“Through Nigerians, the Federal and state governments became and are still uncomfortable with our protests.
” Instead of them responding to us responsibly and what have you, we were shocked that the Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, came up with an illegal utterance befitting of only rabble-rousers and political irritants by calling out fundamental Human Rights “illegal!”
“What Minister Fashola has done is amazing. After all, the camera he found at Lekki Toll Gate after the massacre is still a mystery.
“Yet, the Minister’s outburst is also another piece of evidence that the Buhari government hates real educational development.
“They are never apologetic and are hell-bent on destroying every remnant of State welfare left. They prefer to kill the public schools instead of revamping them.
“Nigerian students are not surprised that the Buhari government does not care about public education.
“After all, all the politicians have their kids schooling abroad, while the children of the masses that constitute 99% of the population are only fit to be thugs, hard workers, and sex slaves.
Olumide added, “We dare say that this cruelty will not continue anymore. And, it is on this note we call on the national leadership of ASUU to synergise with Nigerian students in achieving this struggle that we have commenced by ensuring that a state of emergency is declared in the educational sector.”
Related Article: List Of State Universities In Nigeria That Are Not Under ASUU 2026
FAQs: ASUU Strike – We’ll Ground Airports, Students Vow
Why did students threaten to ground airports over the ASUU strike?
Students threatened to disrupt airport operations as part of their protest against the prolonged Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike. They said the action was aimed at pressuring the Federal Government and ASUU to resolve their disagreements and reopen public universities for academic activities.
Which student group made the threat to shut down airports?
The warning was issued by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), which represents students across Nigerian tertiary institutions. The group expressed frustration over the impact of the prolonged strike on students’ education, academic calendars, and plans.
What were the major causes of the ASUU strike?
The ASUU strike was linked to unresolved disagreements between the union and the Federal Government over issues such as:
- Funding and revitalisation of public universities
- Payment of earned academic allowances
- Implementation of previous agreements
- University autonomy
- Lecturers’ welfare and working conditions
How did the ASUU strike affect Nigerian students?
The strike disrupted academic activities in many public universities, forcing students to remain at home for months. It affected lectures, examinations, graduation timelines, and students’ academic progress, while also creating uncertainty about the future of affected students.
Did students eventually shut down Nigerian airports because of the strike?
The students’ planned airport protest was intended as a pressure tactic to draw attention to their concerns. Security agencies warned against actions that could disrupt airport operations or public safety, while authorities encouraged dialogue between students, ASUU, and the Federal Government to resolve the dispute.
