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FG moves to enforce ‘No Work, No Pay’ on striking lecturers, accuses ASUU of delaying tactics on release of N50bn university revitalisation fund
The Federal Government has accused the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of delaying the disbursement of N50 billion allocated for the revitalisation of public universities. Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made this known during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, where he said most of ASUU’s longstanding demands have already been addressed by the current administration. Meanwhile the government has reaffirmed its resolve to implement the “no work, no pay” policy as the nationwide strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, began on Monday. This is just as the government has directed vice-chancellors of all federal universities to ensure full compliance with the labour law. The directive was contained in a circular dated October 13, 2025, signed by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, and distributed to key education stakeholders including the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, pro-chancellors of federal universities, the Accountant-General of the Federation, and the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, NUC.
According to the circular, the government expressed disappointment over the union’s decision to embark on strike despite ongoing engagement efforts, warning that it would no longer condone disruptions to the academic calendar. “In line with existing labour regulations, any employee who fails to discharge official duties during a strike period will not be entitled to remuneration for that period,” the circular stated. Dr. Alausa directed vice-chancellors to immediately conduct roll calls and physical headcounts of academic staff in their institutions. They are to compile detailed reports identifying those present and performing their duties and those absent due to the strike. Salaries of staff who fail to work are to be withheld for the duration of the industrial action. The minister, however, clarified that members of the Congress of University Academics, CONUA and the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics, NAMDA, who are not participating in the strike, should continue to receive their full entitlements. The NUC has been tasked with monitoring compliance and submitting a consolidated report to the Ministry of Education within seven days. “Please treat this matter with utmost urgency and responsibility in the national interest,” the circular urged.
ASUU had on Sunday declared a two-week warning strike beginning Monday, October 13, to press home its demands. These include the conclusion of the renegotiated 2009 FGN–ASUU agreement, release of withheld salaries, revitalisation funding for public universities, payment of promotion arrears, and settlement of outstanding salary differentials.
The federal government has, however, maintained that most of ASUU’s demands have been addressed and insists the strike is unjustified. Alausa dismissed claims that the government has been slow or unwilling to meet the union’s requests, insisting that the Tinubu administration has maintained consistent engagement with ASUU since assuming office. “With all due respect to the president of ASUU, what he said about the three weeks and the government not responding, it’s not true. We have addressed most of these issues in an ongoing manner. There was never a time when we were delaying ASUU at all. I told them that with this government, we would negotiate with all truthfulness with you,” he said. Alausa explained that the Tinubu administration inherited the needs assessment programme and budgeted N150 billion for it in 2025, to be released in three tranches. According to him, the first tranche has already been disbursed, which is N50 billion, but the funds remain unused due to ASUU’s internal disagreements on how the money should be shared.
“I met with ASUU that the first tranche has been released, but then there was a little bit of a nomenclature change. It is ASUU themselves that have delayed the release of this money to their various bank accounts. That money has been sitting in the needs assessment account for almost six weeks now,” he said. The minister noted that the government has also made payment of N50 billion in earned academic allowances and the release of funds under the needs assessment programme. The minister urged ASUU to cooperate with the government and allow the funds to be disbursed to institutions to improve facilities, stressing that President Tinubu’s administration has demonstrated commitment to revitalising the university system. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) began a two-week total and comprehensive warning strike on Monday, October 13, after accusing the Federal Government of neglecting its long-standing demands despite multiple opportunities for dialogue. The union’s president, Professor Chris Piwuna, said the decision followed the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum issued on September 28, after a meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) held in Sokoto. He explained that ASUU had given the government a three-week window to address key grievances but received no concrete response within that period.
A new technology transfer agreement between the Nigeria–China Strategic Partnership (NCSP) and the Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer (PICTT) is expected to open more job opportunities, improve local skills, and expand access to advanced technology for ordinary Nigerians.
In a press statement reaching Vanguard on Friday, the MoU aims to strengthen industrial development, support local content, and create clearer pathways for Nigerians to benefit from China’s growing investments in the country.
PICTT Chairman, Dr Dahiru Mohammed, said the partnership will immediately begin coordinated programmes that support local participation in infrastructure and industrial projects.
Special Adviser to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr John Uwajumogu, said the deal will help attract high value investments that can stimulate job creation and strengthen Nigeria’s economy.
NCSP Head of International Relations, Ms Judy Melifonwu, highlighted that Nigerians stand to gain from expanded STEM scholarships, technical training, access to modern technology, and collaboration across key sectors including steel, agriculture, automobile parks, and cultural industries.
The NCSP Director-General reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to measurable results, noting that the partnership with PICTT will prioritise initiatives that deliver direct national impact.
The MoU signals a new phase of Nigeria–China cooperation focused on practical delivery, local content, and opportunities that improve everyday livelihoods.
EU regulators launched an antitrust investigation into Meta Platforms on Thursday over its rollout of artificial intelligence features in its WhatsApp messenger that would block rivals, hardening Europe’s already tough stance on Big Tech. The move, reported earlier by Reuters and the Financial Times, is the latest action by European Union regulators against large technology firms such as Amazon and Alphabet’s Google as the bloc seeks to balance support for the sector with efforts to curb its expanding influence.
Europe’s tough stance – a marked contrast to more lenient U.S. regulation – has sparked an industry pushback, particularly by U.S. tech titans, and led to criticism from the administration of U. S. President Donald Trump. The European Commission said that the investigation will look into Meta’s new policy that would limit other AI providers’ access to WhatsApp, a potential boost for its own Meta AI system integrated into the platform earlier this year.
EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said the move was to prevent dominant firms from “abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors”. She added interim measures could be imposed to block Meta’s new WhatsApp AI policy rollout. “AI markets are booming in Europe and beyond,” she said. This is why we are investigating if Meta’s new policy might be illegal under competition rules, and whether we should act quickly to prevent any possible irreparable harm to competition in the AI space.”
A WhatsApp spokesperson called the claims “baseless”, adding that the emergence of chatbots on its platforms had put a “strain on our systems that they were not designed to support”, a reference to AI systems from other providers. “Still, the AI space is highly competitive and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems.” The EU was the first in the world to establish a comprehensive legal framework for AI, setting out guardrails for AI systems and rules for certain high-risk applications in the AI Act.
Meta AI, a chatbot and virtual assistant, has been built into WhatsApp’s interface across European markets since March. The Commission said a new policy fully applicable from January 15, 2026, may block competing AI providers from reaching customers via the platform. Ribera said the probe came on the back of complaints from small AI developers about the WhatsApp policy. The Interaction Company of California, which has developed AI assistant Poke.com, has taken its grievance to the EU competition enforcer. Spanish AI startup Luzia has also talked to the Commission, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Marvin von Hagen, co-founder and CEO of The Interaction Company of California, said if Meta was allowed to roll out its new policy, “millions of European consumers will be deprived of the possibility of enjoying new and innovative AI assistants”. Meta also risks a fine of as much as 10% of its global annual turnover if found guilty of breaching EU antitrust rules.
Italy’s antitrust watchdog opened a parallel investigation in July into allegations that Meta leveraged its market power by integrating an AI tool into WhatsApp, expanding the probe in November to examine whether Meta further abused its dominance by blocking rival AI chatbots from the messaging platform. The antitrust probe is a more traditional means of investigation than the EU’s Digital Markets Act, the bloc’s landmark legislation currently used to scrutinize Amazon’s and Microsoft’s cloud services for potential curbs. Reuters
The spouses and children of billionaires inherited more wealth in 2025 than in any previous year since reporting began in 2015, according to UBS’s Billionaire Ambitions Report published on Thursday. In the 12 months to April, 91 people became billionaires through inheritance, collectively receiving $298 billion, up more than a third from 2024, the Swiss bank said. “These heirs are proof of a multi-year wealth transfer that’s intensifying,” UBS executive Benjamin Cavalli said.
The report is based on a survey of some of UBS’s super-rich clients and a database that tracks the wealth of billionaires across 47 markets in all world regions. At least $5.9 trillion will be inherited by billionaire children over the next 15 years, the bank calculates.
Most of this inheritance growth is set to take place in the United States, with India, France, Germany and Switzerland next on the list, UBS estimated. However, billionaires are highly mobile, especially younger ones, which could change that picture, it added. The search for a better quality of life, geopolitical concerns and tax considerations are driving decisions to relocate, according to the report.
In Switzerland, where $206 billion will be inherited over the next 15 years according to the bank, voters on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected 50 per cent tax on inherited fortunes of $62 million or more, after critics said it could trigger an exodus of wealthy people.
Switzerland, the UAE, the U.S. and Singapore are among billionaires’ preferred destinations, UBS’s Cavalli said. “In Switzerland, Sunday’s vote may have helped to increase the country’s appeal again,” he said. Reuters
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