The Federal Government has imposed the no-work, no-pay policy on striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
This was contained in a circular dated October 13 and signed by the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa.
Alausa expressed the Federal Government’s displeasure with ASUU’s decision to embark on a nationwide strike despite ongoing negotiations and calls for dialogue.
He, therefore, directed vice-chancellors of federal universities to implement the no-work, no-pay policy against ASUU members participating in the ongoing nationwide strike.
“In line with extant provisions of the labour laws, the Federal Government reiterates its position on the enforcement of the ‘no-work, no-pay’ policy in respect of any employee who fails to discharge his or her official duties during the period of strike action,” the letter partly read.
Roll-Call Of Workers
He said academic workers who are members of the Congress of University Academics (CONUA) and the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA), not participating in the strike, were exempted from this directive.
READ ALSO: We’ve Addressed Every Request By ASUU, There’s No Need For Strike — FG
“Ensure that salary payment for the period of work stoppage is withheld from those who fail to perform their duties,” he added.
The minister said the NUC had been instructed to monitor compliance and submit a consolidated report to the ministry within seven days.
ASUU had on Sunday declared a two-week warning strike starting from October 13.
The lecturers have been at loggerheads with the government over the work conditions of lecturers, the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement, the release of withheld salaries, and sustainable funding for the revitalisation of public universities.
Governor Dauda Lawal has reaffirmed the Zamfara State Government’s commitment to continuing its partnership with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
The governor attended the 2025 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction and the launch of the related strategy on Monday at the NAF Conference Centre in Abuja.
A statement by the governor’s spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, revealed that Vice President Kashim Shettima, led the official launch of NEMA’s strategic plan (2025 – 2029), the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategy (2025 – 2030), and the Action Plan (2025 – 2028).
The statement added that the event with the theme ‘Fund Resilience, Not Disaster’ gathered all stakeholders across Nigeria.
In his goodwill message, Governor Lawal praised NEMA for organising a timely dialogue and for their dedication to enhancing Nigeria’s disaster risk management framework.
READ ALSO: FG Disburses ₦300bn To Over Eight Million Households
He said: “Disasters occur in a vicious cycle where one disaster fuels another. Our experience underscores the saying that no risk is truly isolated; it is interconnected, and managing it requires a strategic approach.
“Therefore, I also commend you on the formal Launch of your 5-year strategic plan, tagged “The National Disaster Risk Strategy 2025 to 2030.
“As we launch the Strategic Plan and deliberate on funding models, I urge all stakeholders to deepen collaboration and ensure that no stakeholder is left behind in our collective effort to build a safer, more resilient Nigeria.
“The theme of today’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, ‘Fund Resilience, Not Disasters,’ must be transformed into concrete plans during this roundtable.
“To ensure sustainability, it is crucial to build resilience in funding, as disaster management is a dynamic and evolving process. Funding mechanisms should be dynamic, flexible, and readily available.”
Governor Lawal further added that Zamfara faces many disasters and emergencies, both natural and man-made, such as insecurity, fires, displacement, mining shaft collapses, floods, and other adverse effects of climate change, among others.
“Through it all, we can always count on NEMA to be there as part of the management, recovery, reconstruction, and mitigation efforts. Therefore, I thank you on behalf of the Government and People of Zamfara State for your efforts and interventions and for always being there in our times of need.
“The Zamfara Emergency Management Agency (ZEMA) has been granted greater powers to enhance its emergency response. We are integrating disaster risk management into governance through early warning systems, community engagement, and institutional reforms, as we believe systemic resilience starts at the sub-national level.
“Before I conclude, I want to express our sincere appreciation to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, for his leadership during these challenging times.
The Lagos State Government has sealed off illegal reclamation sites and issued a stop-work order to individuals reclaiming and narrowing sections of the Ikota River around Partibons Homes Estate and Bee-Forth Estate Phase II off Orchid Road in the Lekki area of the state.
In a statement posted on its official X handle on Monday, the government said the enforcement followed an inspection tour by the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, over the weekend.
Wahab described the illegal reclamation activities as “heart-wrenching,” lamenting that some individuals have deliberately chosen to destroy the natural ecosystem.
He explained that the ministry had received an SOS alert indicating that some people were aggressively reclaiming parts of the Ikota River and erecting illegal structures with the intent of selling them to unsuspecting citizens.
“There’s no way flash flooding can be completely stopped in a coastal state like Lagos, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, lagoons, and rivers. What we can do is mitigate it through resilient infrastructure and sustainable approaches,” Wahab said.
READ ALSO: Lagos Shifts Commencement Of $3bn Marina-Lekki Rail Line Construction To December
The Commissioner noted that some unscrupulous individuals had blocked stormwater channels, specifically systems 156 and 157, which are designed to discharge into the Ikota River and further into the lagoon.
He warned that human interference with these natural alignments worsens flooding, adding that the state government will not fold its hands and allow the actions of a few to endanger the lives of many.
Wahab also inspected the ongoing restoration of the right-of-way along the Ikota River alignment at Oral Estate II, where 17 illegal structures had already been demolished.
He was accompanied by the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi, during a joint inspection of environmental infractions along the Lekki–Epe Expressway.
The exercise is in preparation for the upcoming Green Rail Line project planned along the corridor.
According to Wahab, abatement notices were earlier served on September 26, 2025, to automobile dealers who had encroached on wetlands and under high-tension power lines, beyond the temporary site approved by the government.
He said such actions violate the original master plan for the Green Line project being coordinated by the Ministry of Transportation.
He reiterated that the temporary approvals issued to the automobile dealers clearly prohibited the erection of permanent structures, stressing that the state remains committed to preserving wetlands as part of its long-term flood mitigation strategy.
Wahab directed immediate enforcement against all identified infractions, while Osiyemi disclosed that the Green Line project will commence in December.
The Federal Government has disbursed over ₦300 billion to 8.1 million households through the Conditional Cash Transfer scheme.
The Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Yusuf Sanunu, disclosed this on Monday at a roundtable event to mark this year’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction in Abuja.
“As a ministry, under the Hope Agenda of Mr. President, the Ministry has, through the National Social Investment Agency, has done very well in improving the resilience of the local community. As of today, in terms of conditional cash transfer, over 8.1 million households in Nigeria have been reached with a total sum of over 300 and something billion naira. This has really improved their capacity, improved their health, and education, and the process will continue,” Sanunu said.
He also hinted that the 21,000 Nigerians affected by flood disasters across the country are to benefit from the government’s interest-free loan totalling ₦6.3 billion.
“We also are planning, together with both national and state level, to improve on our flood mitigating effect by dolling out, in the next few weeks to come, to 21,000 Nigerians free interest, and also free collateral loan of over 300,000 Naira each. This is to address the issue of crisis in farming so as to mitigate the interest of flooding in Nigeria,” he said.
READ ALSO: FG To Disburse ₦6.3bn Interest-Free Loans To 21,000 Flood Disaster Victims
The Minister further disclosed efforts to empower displaced persons through a scheme that will provide a ready market for their products.
“Already, we have planted a program in collaboration with Federal Minister of Agriculture in addressing the food security of internally displaced persons through the collaboration with internally displaced persons in their camp and host community, the formula of giving the internally displaced person 30% of the produce produced by the internally displaced persons, and the government will off-take 70% and the money will be given to the internally displaced persons that participated in the scheme as a cash component,” he said.
Speaking earlier, the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency, Zubaida Umar, said Nigeria, like many nations, continues to experience increasing frequency and intensity of disasters driven by climate change, conflicts, pandemics, and technological risks.
According to her, these events are testing the limits of traditional emergency response systems and demanding a more proactive, preventive, and well-financed disaster risk management framework.
Zubaida underscored the need to collectively rethink how to fund resilience; to move from reactive, ad-hoc funding of disasters to a multi-stakeholder financing architecture that supports prevention, preparedness, and sustainable recovery.
“Your Excellency, this Roundtable also provides the platform for the official launch of two (2) landmark policy instruments that will guide our collective efforts in the years ahead: The NEMA Strategy Plan (2025–2029); The National Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy (2025–2030). These frameworks are anchored on risk-informed development, innovation in financing, and stronger institutional collaboration, ensuring that disaster risk management becomes an integral part of planning across all sectors.
“As we discuss today, our focus will extend beyond emergency management institutions. Resilience must be mainstreamed across sectors from agriculture, water resources, energy, and infrastructure to finance, education, and health.
“In this regard, NEMA is already working with key stakeholders to develop a National Risk Monitoring and Information Platform that will serve as a cross-sectoral system for early warning, vulnerability mapping, and risk-informed investment decisions.
Equally important is the dialogue around innovative financing, exploring instruments such as catastrophe bonds, insurance pools, climate funds, and blended finance models that can sustain risk reduction efforts at scale,” she explained.
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has approved the appointment of Benibo Anabraba as the new Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG).
Anabraba, a former Minority Leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly who represented Akuku-Toru Constituency II, replaces Tammy Danagogo.
READ ALSO: Fubara Gives Contractor One Month To Deliver Road Project Or Lose Contract
Danagogo had served in the position from the second term of former Governor Nyesom Wike, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to the first two years of the Fubara administration before the declaration of emergency rule.
Hamas handed over the 20 surviving Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in two separate groups, as part of a Gaza ceasefire deal.
US President Donald Trump arrived in Israel for a trip which will also take him to Egypt, where he will co-host a Gaza summit with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
The following are the latest key developments:
Hostage-prisoner exchange
Vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) arrive in the south of Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip to receive the second batch of hostages expected to be released, on October 13, 2025. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
The Gaza peace deal hinges on both sides adhering to an agreement to exchange hostages seized from Israel in Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
The initial stage of the ceasefire deal includes the release of 47 Israeli living and dead hostages taken on October 7, 2023 in exchange for 250 prisoners and 1,700 Gazans held by Israel since the war broke out.
Hamas is also expected to hand over the remains of a soldier killed in 2014 during a previous Gaza war.
Israel’s public broadcaster reported Hamas handed over all 20 surviving Israeli hostages to Red Cross representatives with a second group of 13 hostages transferred in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, the broadcaster said.
Hamas’s armed wing on Monday published a list of 20 names, and shortly afterwards militants handed over the first seven hostages to Red Cross representatives in Gaza City.
People hold placards during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, outside the Israeli Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv on January 18, 2025, a day before a ceasefire approved by Israel and Hamas is set to take effect. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP).
The Israeli army later confirmed the first group were in their custody.
Israel’s foreign ministry posted on X, identifying the first group of released captives as Guy Gilboa Dalal, Eitan Mor, Matan Angrest, Alon Ohel, Gali and Ziv Berman and Omri Miran.
Hamas had until a midday (0900 GMT) deadline to release the living hostages under the terms of the ceasefire agreement proposed by Trump.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson said the Palestinian detainees would be “released once Israel has confirmation that all of our hostages set to be released tomorrow are across the border into Israel”.
Israel does not expect all of the dead hostages to be returned on Monday.
“Our struggle is not over. It will not end until the last hostage is located and returned for proper burial,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
Gaza summit
File Photo of US President Donald Trump and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi/AFP
Trump and Sisi will chair the Gaza summit of more than 20 world leaders on Monday in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh.
The US leader arrived in Israel aboard Air Force One ahead of the meet Monday, to be greeted on the red carpet at Ben Gurion airport by Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, before travelling on to give a speech at Israel’s parliament, the Knesset.
The gathering aims “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability”, the Egyptian president’s office said.
On Sunday, the Egyptian foreign ministry said a “document ending the war in the Gaza Strip” was expected to be signed during the “historic” gathering.
According three diplomatic sources, mediators the US, Egypt, Qatar and likely Turkey would sign a guarantee document during the summit.
But neither of the warring parties will attend, with Netanyahu’s office saying no Israeli officials would take part, following earlier confirmation from Hamas that it would not send representatives.
Among those expected to attend are UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Canada will also be represented by its Prime Minister Mark Carney, while Macron said Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas would be present.
Egypt has said 21 nations will take part, with representation also expected from the EU and Arab League, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Pakistan, Indonesia, India and Germany, among others.
Iran said Monday that neither its President Masoud Pezeshkian nor foreign minister Abbas Araghchi will attend, after confirming that it received an invitation.
Hamas post-war role
Palestinians make their way past destroyed buildings in Gaza City on October 12, 2025. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returned to a devastated Gaza City, after an Israel-Hamas ceasefire came into effect, and as both sides discuss implementing US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war, which calls for Hamas’ disarmament and for the group not to be involved in running post-war Gaza. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A Hamas source close to the group’s negotiating committee told AFP on Sunday that it would not participate in governing post-war Gaza.
The source, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said the Islamist movement has “relinquished control of the Strip”, but stressed it “remains a fundamental part of the Palestinian fabric”.
“Hamas agrees to a long-term truce, and for its weapons not to be used at all during this period, except in the event of an Israeli attack on Gaza,” the source said.
Another Hamas official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, earlier told AFP the militant group’s disarmament was “out of the question”.
Aid heads for Gaza
Palestinians make their way to Gaza City through the so-called “Netzarim corridor” from Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on October 11, 2025. Photo by EYAD BABA / AFP
More than 200 trucks carrying aid destined for Gaza, including six diesel fuel trucks and five carrying cooking gas, were unloaded on Sunday at the Kerem Shalom crossing with the Palestinian territory, according to an AFP reporter who also saw the empty vehicles return to the Egyptian side.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians poured back into a shattered Gaza City on Saturday, a day after the guns fell silent.
