The Chairman of the Federal Government-Academic Staff Union of Universities (FGN-ASUU) Renegotiation Committee, Dr. Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, has accepted the ASUU Heroes Award, dedicating the honor to Nigerian university lecturers, students, and members of the negotiation team who worked toward resolving the prolonged industrial disputes in the nation’s public universities.
Delivering his acceptance speech at the award ceremony, the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) described the recognition from an association of scholars, teachers, and patriots as an uncommon honor that he receives with profound appreciation and humility.
Reflecting on his appointment to lead the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement, Yayale Ahmed noted that he accepted the assignment out of a sense of national duty, emphasizing that public universities remain the heartbeat of national development.”When they are closed, the future of our children is put on hold, and the progress of our nation is delayed,” he stated.
He explained that although the issues on the table were complex and emotions ran high, both sides approached the dialogue with a shared conviction that neither party was an enemy, united by the common goal of building a functional university system where lecturers are respected and properly motivated, and students can learn without interruption.
The elder statesman stressed that the breakthroughs recorded during the talks were a collective achievement rather than the feat of a single individual.
He commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for demonstrating the political will to resolve the long-standing impasse, as well as the Minister of Education and the Minister of State for Education for their roles during the rigorous, two-tier negotiations.Recounting the intensity of the engagements, Yayale Ahmed praised ASUU as a strong institution, noting that its organizational discipline enabled its leadership to take decisive steps at critical moments during the talks.
He expressed hope that other public sector institutions would replicate ASUU’s institutional strength to ensure effective governance.He also paid glowing tribute to the ASUU National President, Professor Chris Piwuna, commending his resilience, intellect, and commitment to the union’s cause. Sharing a lighter moment with the audience, Yayale Ahmed recalled how the union leader—a consultant psychiatrist from the University of Jos—once jokingly threatened to admit him as a patient due to the intense pressure of the negotiations, before describing Piwuna as a “very responsible, young, committed leader.”Declining personal credit for the progress made in stabilizing the academic calendar, Yayale Ahmed insisted that the true heroes of the struggle are the academics and students enduring difficult conditions in the nation’s ivory towers.
“If today I am called a hero, then the real heroes are the lecturers who, in spite of difficult conditions, continue to teach, to research, and to mentor,” he said.
“The real heroes are the students who persevere through strikes and uncertainties at the beauty of their youth, and all those who believe that the university system must remain a bastion of learning, not a battlefield.”
He concluded by noting that while the committee successfully negotiated with 13 tertiary-based unions, the engagement with ASUU proved to be the most defining, expressing optimism that the agreements reached will translate into lasting stability across Nigeria’s public universities.
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