Education
Nigeria Govt insists on no-work, no-pay for lecturers over ASUU strike
The Federal Government on Saturday called on the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to consider the plights of Nigerian students who have stayed at home for six months and call off the strike.
The Minister of State for Education, Goodluck Nanah Opiah, made the call in Owerri while fielding questions from Journalists. He said that the Federal Government has met all the demands made by ASUU, adding that the only issue on the table is the Government’s “No Work No Pay” policy.
He said the Government believes that the lecturers who did not go to work for six months did not earn their salaries, even as he assured that the Government has mapped out N50bn to meet up with the earned allowances.
Opiah said: “ASUU should consider the plight of our children and return to school. A lot of us have our children in public universities here and the lecturers also have their children in schools in Nigeria. We don’t feel happy to return home each day and see that they schools are still locked, and I wonder how the lecturers whose children are in public universities feel when they return home each day and see that their children are still at home.
“The Ministry of Education is critical. It is a large Ministry that has so much in stock for the future of this country. The Education sector is a very critical one and Government takes this seriously. That was why the Government had to bend backwards to settle all the grey areas made by ASUU. What is the issue now is that Government insists that it cannot pay for the six months the lecturers did not go to work. The policy of “No Work No Pay” is a global practice and not a witchhunt of the lecturers.
“ASUU strike is an unfortunate one, an avoidable one. It does no good to the future of our children and the country. No doubt, lecturers have a right to make demands, be that as it may, the Federal Government has since engaged the situation and we are in talks with the lecturers. Today, all grey areas have been settled, except that the lecturers are asking that the six months they have been on strike should be laid for. But the Federal Government said no, that “No Work No Pay” policy is a universal policy.
“I think we cannot afford to set the wrong precedents by paying people who stayed at home for six months. How do we compensate the students for all the days the lectures were at home if we compensate the lecturers by paying them? If we can answer this question, that will help. However, I plead with the lecturers to please return to school”.
The Minister also called on ASUU not to politicize the industrial action, saying that the call by Union on the students whom they forced to stay at home to use their votes to remove the APC Government, brings them into the political arena. He said such unguarded comments by ASUU gives the impression that some people want to politicize the strike.
“I feel bad each time ASUU calls on the students to use their voters cards and remove the APC Government. That call is in the wrong direction and should not have happened. Industrial actions should not be politicized by anyone, and making such unguarded comments means bringing both the issues and ASUU into the political arena and it’s not good for anyone. There are many issues raised by the lecturers and they have all been resolved”, said the Minister.
However, the Minsiter expressed optimism that with the recent suspension of strike by the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and other Associated Institutions (NASU) on Saturday, the industrial action by ASUU would be over soon.
“You can see that the other unions are calling off their strike. We are almost there. I commend the President and the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu. The Federal Government has made a lot of concessions to move the Education sector higher. What I think is left is the “No Work No Pay” policy and I am sure that ASUU will come to the realisation that their insistence is not realistic.”
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has commenced the disbursement of upkeep payments to students who successfully updated their bank account details from digital wallets to commercial bank accounts.
This was announced in a statement released on Friday in Abuja by the Director of Strategic Communications of the Fund, Mrs. Oseyemi Oluwatuyi.
Oluwatuyi described the development as a significant breakthrough in addressing earlier disbursement delays.
“Over 3,600 students, who previously registered with digital-only banking platforms, have now successfully received their backlog of upkeep payments after updating their details to conventional commercial bank accounts on the NELFUND portal,” she stated.
“We appreciate the patience and understanding of all affected students during this period. Your resilience and cooperation have made this progress possible,” she added.
The NELFUND spokesperson advised students who have yet to update their bank details to raise a support ticket via the official NELFUND portal to request access for the update.
She further urged affected students to report through the IT office of their respective institutions, which would compile and forward all related cases to NELFUND for prompt resolution.
“NELFUND remains committed to ensuring that no eligible student is left behind. This resolution process is part of our broader effort to enhance the efficiency, transparency, and student-centered delivery of our support services,” she said.
Oluwatuyi encouraged students to continue engaging only through official NELFUND channels and to assist their peers who may need help navigating the update process.
She also provided contact options for inquiries, stating that the fund can be reached via email at info@nelf.gov.ng or through its official social media handles: X (formerly Twitter) @nelfund; Instagram @nelfund; and Facebook & LinkedIn: Nigerian Education Loan Fund – NELFUND.
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has issued a directive to all accredited tertiary institutions to verify and upload their students’ data on the newly digitised Student Loan Application System (SLAS).
This was disclosed in a statement released in Abuja on Wednesday by the Director of Strategic Communications at NELFUND, Mrs Oseyemi Oluwatuyi.
According to Oluwatuyi, the SLAS platform has been fully digitised to streamline and accelerate the student loan processing experience for both institutions and applicants.
“With this upgrade, all accredited institutions are now required to request access to SLAS to verify and upload student data related to loan applications,” she said.
She described the move as “a critical step that ensures the timely processing and disbursement of approved student loans.”
Institutions that have not yet been onboarded onto the system, she said, are advised to send an access request to registration@nelf.gov.ng without delay.
“Once granted access, institutions will be able to view a real-time dashboard of their students’ loan applications, verify submitted data, and track the status of each application,” Oluwatuyi explained.
She called on all institutions to take immediate action in the interest of their students, stressing that verification and data upload by institutions are mandatory steps before final approval and disbursement of loans can be completed.
On the students’ side, Oluwatuyi noted that if an application status currently shows “Verified,” it means the application has passed initial checks. However, final approval and disbursement depend on the institutions’ confirmation and data upload.
“Once this process is completed, your status will be updated to ‘Disbursed’ when the payment of your fees has been processed,” she added.
She also encouraged students to reach out to the fund for assistance via email at info@nelf.gov.ng.
Other official communication channels include:
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X (formerly Twitter): @nelfund
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Instagram: @nelfund
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Facebook & LinkedIn: Nigerian Education Loan Fund – NELFUND
The National Universities Commission, (NUC), has given full accreditation to the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), for her Law programme.
According to the Public Relations Officer of ESUT, Mr Ikechukwu Ani, this is contained in a letter addressed to the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Aloysius Okolie, on Wednesday in Enugu by the NUC.
Ani said that in the letter, the Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu said the report was contained in the result of the October/November 2024 accreditation of academic programmes in Nigerian universities.
Ani disclosed that other programmes in the institution accredited by the NUC include Master of Science in Business Management; Education Computer Science; Education Physics and Agricultural Engineering.
Other accredited programmes he said were Quantity Surveying; Urban and Regional Planning; and Applied Microbiology.
He said that the letter quoted Section 10 (1) of the Education National Minimum Standard and Establishment of Institutions, Act CAP E3, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 as empowering the NUC to lay down minimum academic standards for all academic programmes taught in Nigerian universities.
He said the session also empowers the NUC to accredit such programmes.
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