Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule and Secretary to the State Government Labaran Magaji are intensifying efforts in Lafia, Nasarawa State, to resolve the Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK) strike and restore academic activities after lecturers under the Academic Staff Union of Universities commenced an indefinite industrial action.

Magaji gave the assurance while receiving a delegation of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) at his office in Lafia, where he acknowledged the disruption facing students and said Sule was concerned about getting them back into classrooms.

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“I can assure you that, as a listening government that we have under the leadership of Governor Abdullahi Sule, such concern is sooner or later going to be resolved,” Magaji said.

“The Governor is not sleeping over it. He is intensifying efforts to see that this issue is resolved so that students can go back to class.”

The assurance comes barely nine days after the ASUU NSUK branch declared a total and indefinite strike following a branch congress on August 10.

The union said repeated engagements with relevant authorities had failed to produce satisfactory implementation of outstanding agreements and resolution of local issues affecting academic staff.

ASUU’s position presents a more complicated picture than a simple disagreement over the resumption of classes.

The union has linked the industrial action to the implementation of the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement and unresolved matters specific to the university.

The NSUK branch had warned as far back as April that industrial harmony could not be guaranteed unless outstanding arrears and other demands were addressed.

Branch chairman Abdulmumini Loko said at the time that the union had repeatedly engaged the authorities without securing a satisfactory resolution.

By August, the dispute had escalated into an indefinite shutdown.

ASUU said agreements reached with government must be implemented, stressing that further dialogue without concrete action could no longer resolve the dispute.

“Dialogue without implementation cannot continue indefinitely,” the union said.

Another report put the outstanding NSUK entitlements at more than ₦3 billion, including Earned Academic Allowance, consequential adjustments linked to the national minimum wage and an approved salary increment for university lecturers.

The figure and specific claims are those of the ASUU branch and have not been independently verified.

The dispute is also part of a wider national disagreement between ASUU and authorities over the implementation of the 2025 agreement.

In May, ASUU’s Abuja Zone accused the Federal Government of failing to fully implement the deal, citing issues including unpaid entitlements, salary shortfalls, pension concerns and welfare provisions.

The union’s National Executive Council subsequently authorised a number of university branches to begin processes towards industrial action over what it described as the uneven implementation of the agreement.

NSUK was among the institutions affected by that decision.

For students, the dispute has created another interruption to an academic system already under pressure from repeated industrial conflicts.

The NANS delegation led by National Treasurer Comrade Asmawu Omeze told Magaji that the students’ body was in Nasarawa as part of a campus tour to assess student welfare and the impact of government policies.

Omeze said the visit was not intended as a protest but as an engagement with stakeholders.

Magaji used the meeting to urge students to remain patient while negotiations continue.

He also encouraged young people to reject materialism, greed and other social vices, while calling for stronger commitment to genuine student activism.

He warned against ethnic and religious divisions in student politics, saying such sentiments could undermine national cohesion and development.

The governor’s intervention comes as NSUK continues other institutional initiatives.

In June, the university Senate approved the restructuring of its former Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences into separate faculties of Computing, Life Sciences and Physical Sciences, describing the move as part of efforts to strengthen academic administration and align programmes with emerging global trends.

The university has also faced other challenges this year, including a security incident involving abducted students.

NSUK management said in May that the students were safely released and credited the Nasarawa State Government and security agencies with supporting the rescue effort.

The latest dispute now places the state government and university authorities under pressure to find a durable settlement rather than simply secure a temporary resumption.

For students whose studies have been interrupted, the central question is when classes will resume.

For ASUU, however, the dispute remains tied to outstanding financial obligations and implementation of agreements that the union says must be honoured.

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Until those issues are addressed, the promise of a swift return to the classroom remains dependent on the outcome of negotiations between the relevant authorities and the lecturers’ union.