ASUU ELECTS PROF. PIWUNA AS NEW PRESIDENT AMID LOOMING STRIKE THREATS
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has elected Professor Chris Piwuna as its new national president at a critical time in Nigeria’s academic sector. The transition occurred during the union’s 23rd National Delegates Congress held in Benin City on Sunday.
Piwuna, a consultant psychiatrist and Dean of Student Affairs at the University of Jos, defeated Professor Adamu Babayo of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi. He succeeds Professor Victor Osodeke, whose tenure was marked by prolonged strikes and tense negotiations with the Federal Government.
Piwuna takes office as ASUU faces fresh disputes over the disbursement of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) and deepening brain drain across Nigerian universities. Analysts believe his tenure will be tested early by mounting frustrations among lecturers over salary delays, lack of infrastructure, and government inaction on previously signed agreements.
The new leadership is expected to define a roadmap that either steers the union away from another industrial action or escalates tensions with the government over unmet demands in the education sector.
