After two weeks of stalled academic activities, staff of Lagos State University (LASU) have voted to end their strike, with full resumption slated for Wednesday, August 13.
The strike, which began on July 31, was jointly executed by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the Non-Academic Staff Union, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, and the National Association of Academic Technologists under the Joint Action Committee (JAC).
The decision to suspend the strike was reached at a congress on Monday, August 11, after weeks of tense negotiations with the Lagos State Government.
“We are resuming on Wednesday. We arrived at this decision at our congress today (Monday). The JAC will issue a circular detailing the analysis,” a staff member told our correspondent. Another confirmed, “The strike has been suspended. There is an agreement that we will resume work on Wednesday.”
The breakthrough came after a five-hour meeting last Thursday between JAC, LASU management, and Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, where the state agreed to pay 12 months of the 23-month salary arrears owed from the 25% and 35% increments due to staff. Nine months’ payment will be covered by the state, while the university will pay the remaining three months, with instalments spread from August to December 2025.
Although some workers had initially rejected the offer—demanding full payment of all arrears in five instalments starting August 2025—LASU’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, urged staff to embrace compromise.
“The state government has made offers in response to our demands. I know they may not meet every expectation, but I ask that we accept them as part of the realities of negotiations and life, where we win some and lose some,” she said, warning that prolonged strikes could harm students and the institution’s reputation.
Confirming the end of the standoff, LASU Senate on Monday approved the resumption of all academic and social activities from Wednesday. Students are to return to hostels across the Ojo, Ikeja, and Epe campuses ahead of the second-semester examinations, now scheduled to commence on Monday, August 18.
