200 Days of ASUU Strike: Analyzing Recent University Industrial Actions

Analysis of ASUU Strike from 2020 to 2022

• Note: This is a tentative update to our 2020 analysis on ASUU Strike namely – ASUU Strikes Since Inception and ASUU Strikes Since Inception (II).
• Assuming that one academic session is 9 months, the 2020 strike was the longest in Nigeria’s history since ASUU’s formation.
• The 2022 ASUU strike is at the moment, the second longest strike in Nigeria’s history; this has overtaken the 2010-11 strike of 180 days and the 2002-03 strike of 172 days.
• There was a one-year hiatus in 2021, though ASUU threatened to go on a warning strike if agreements were not adhered to. Mid-2021, ASUU had a change in its leadership.
• In 2021, there was an attempt by ASUU to go on a warning strike; this was postponed until the Union eventually commenced this current strike in 2022.
• As at the time of publishing this analysis (200 days into the strike), ASUU had declared the 2022 strike indefinite in August. If the Government and the Union do not come to an agreement to resolve the industrial action by December 1, the current strike will surpass 2020 as the longest in Nigeria’s history (290 days).
• By the end of 2022, the number of days lost to the strike will be 320 days, 45-46 days short of a full calendar year or one academic session. In months, the strike will be 6 months, 19 days on September 2; 8 months, 18 days by November 1 and 10 months, 17 days by December 31.

See ProvisioDigital’s previous works in 2020 on a timeline of ASUU strikes.

How ASUU Strikes Have Affected Students from Generations

• Gen Z (born 1997 – 2012) is gradually getting close to the Millennials generation (1981 – 1996) as the generation most affected by the strikes.
• The Millennials lost a total of 1039 days to these strikes. Gen Z has lost 920 days so far. This means that every student who attended public universities from 1976-77 must have experienced the ASUU strike at least once.
• For context, this is the third time the ASUU strike will significantly affect the academic calendar in successive years.
• The previous strikes of 1994-95/96, 2009-10 and the 2020 strikes have spanned across multiple years with a minimum strike period of 5 months per year.

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