The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged the National Assembly and other key stakeholders to intervene and prevent the union from taking actions that could lead to a nationwide strike.
Speaking at a news conference at the Federal University Oye Ekiti, Prof. Adeola Egbedokun, the Zonal Coordinator for ASUU Akure Zone, voiced deep concern over the alleged failure of the President Bola Tinubu administration to address the union’s demands.
Egbedokun stated that after two years in office, the government’s continued disregard for ASUU’s concerns has pushed university lecturers to their breaking point.
He stated that ASUU demands include implementation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, sustainable funding of Nigerian universities, revitalisation of the university system, payment of outstanding 25–35% salary arrears, stagnated promotions for over four years, unremitted third-party deductions, and victimisation of colleagues in some institutions.
The ASUU leader said: “We will fight back, and the consequences would be damning except the government takes a decisive step to attend to all our requests urgently.
“While we take note of the government’s planned meeting of August 28, 2025, let it be clear that the clock is ticking, and time is no longer on the government’s side. Our patience has been stretched to its breaking point. Trust has been shattered, and only decisive government action can mend it.
“The National Executive Committee has resolved that all options remain on the table. If the government chooses provocation over responsibility, if it continues to play games with the future of our universities, then it alone must bear the consequences of the storm that will follow. The ball is squarely in the government’s court.
“We call on all well-meaning Nigerians – Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, National Association of Nigerian Students, traditional rulers, and the National Assembly to caution the government against pushing us into avoidable
confrontation.
“For over two years, we have kept faith with the promise of dialogue and refrained from strike actions, but our patience has reached its limits. Our resources are drained, our tanks are dry, and this long road cannot be traveled any further without genuine results.
“Lecturers have remained frozen, stagnant, and insultingly irrelevant in today’s economy. It has become a bitter irony that the very lecturers who educate the nation cannot afford to pay their own children’s school fees.”
Egbedokun said the report of the Alhaji Yayale Ahmed-led re-negotiation, painstakingly concluded and submitted since February 2025, had been treated with reckless indifference, describing such a development as a clear betrayal of trust and an insult to the principle of collective bargaining.
He appealed to ASUU members not to subscribe to a loan policy introduced by the Federal Government, saying it was an attempt to throw them into perpetual bondage.
He said: “This loan policy is nothing but a crude distraction and a sinister snare. It is designed to suffocate our members, undermine our cooperative societies, and push them into perpetual bondage, struggling to pay for healthcare, shelter, and the education of their children.”
Egbedokun disclosed that the ASUU members in the zone held peaceful rallies in their different campuses on Monday to test-run the next move if government remained adamant.
Persecondnews recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari’s agreement with ASUU in 2022 centered on several key issues, including renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, funding for public university revitalization, earned academic allowance, promotion arrears, and the IPPIS vs UTAS dispute.
However, most of the commitments remain unfulfilled, prompting the current call for a strike.
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