•Protesting varsity lecturers
University teachers embarked on peaceful protests on campuses yesterday over what they termed the federal government’s failure to meet their demands for better welfare and improved funding of the education sector.
The protests, which grounded academic activities, were called by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the umbrella body of lecturers, to serve as a strike notice to the federal government, reports The Nation.
They want the government to begin implementing the demands tomorrow to avert the commencement of the strike.
In most of the universities monitored by our correspondent, the lecturers moved around their campuses with placards that highlighted the demands.
The universities include the University of Lagos(UNILAG), Lagos State University of Education(LASUED), University of Jos(UNIJOS), University of Ibadan (UI), University of Ilorin(UNILORIN), University of Nigeria, Nsukka(UNN), University of Benin(UNIBEN), Yakubu Gowon University formerly(University of Abuja) and University of Calabar(UNICAL).
Others are Bayero University, Kano(BUK), Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Nnamdi Azikiwe University(NAU), Federal University, Lokoja; Federal University of Technology, Minna; Emmanuel Alayande University of Education, Oyo and Zamfara State University.
At UNILAG, members urged the Federal Government to expedite action on payment of arrears, improved welfare and renegotiation of the 2009 FG-ASUU agreement.
Chairman of the ASUU chapter, Prof. Idowu Kehinde, told reporters after the rally that the union had tried several ways and strategies of resolving the conflict in the education sector, but the Federal Government was not forthcoming.
Kehinde said: “As always, it is the federal government that has consistently pushed our union to embark on strike, and it is clear that ASUU may have no other option than to embark on an action to press the government to listen to our demands and do the needful.
‘’For the benefit of the doubt, these issues include re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, sustainable funding of our universities, revitalisation of universities, victimisation of our colleges in LASU, KSU(Kogi State University now Prince Abubakar Audu University) and FUTO(Federal University of Technology, Owerri); outstanding 25-35 percent salary arrears and promotion arrears for over four years.”
Also at LASUED, the branch ASUU chairman, Akolade Lapite, said it was very important for the federal government to find a way to avert the crisis in the universities.
“Having spent so many months and years on negotiation and time, some of them have died, some were co-opted, and some of them again died. So, nothing is stopping the government from doing what is needed,” he added.
In UNIJOS, where ASUU President Chris Piwuna teaches, the members accused the government of being responsible for the lingering dispute.
Their chapter’s Chairman, Jurbe Molwus, who led the protest, said: “This (protest) is being done with a view to drawing the attention of all critical stakeholders to the persistent failure of the Federal Government to adequately address our demands.
“ASUU is worried that it may no longer be able to guarantee industrial harmony that has been enjoyed for over two years of which the government is no doubt proud of.
“We would like to state for the record that this has been achieved at the detriment of the welfare and well-being of our ever resilient members who have suffered persistent denial of their due entitlements.”
Chairman of the UI chapter, Adefemi Afolabi and his Emmanuel Alayande University of Education counterpart, Michael Ojo, led their placard-carrying members in the protests.
In UI, the lecturers who were joined by the Nigerian Labour Congress, Oyo State chapter Chairman, Kayode Martins, moved round the campus sensitising the university community to the possibility of an industrial action.
As they marched in an orderly manner, they sang solidarity songs, accusing the government of not fulfilling its promises. They said their poor welfare should attract the attention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Afolabi said: “There has been inadequate progress in the negotiation between the federal government and ASUU in the past 16 years.
“This has contributed to low morale and brain drain, while the best brains have decided to stay away from the profession due to the poor remuneration and conditions of service.
“Nigerians – including opinion leaders, religious and traditional authorities, civil society organisations, parents of our valued students and all stakeholders to advocate for the federal government to sign the re-negotiated agreement by August 28, 2025.
‘’Only through this action can the government prevent an impending nationwide industrial crisis across university campuses and fulfil the promises made during the election campaign.”
On his part, Ojo stated that ASUU “can no longer allow the welfare of its members to be subjected to the delay tactics of the government.’’
“ASUU, therefore, invites all genuine patriots to prevail on Nigeria’s governments including the university administrations to address all lingering labour issues in the Nigerian University system to avert another looming industrial crisis if the government at all levels fails to address these concerns, ASUU may be forced to take industrial action which could disrupt the academic calendar and have reaching consequences for the university community,’’ he said.
The protesters in UNIBEN sang solidarity songs as they marched to the office of the Vice Chancellor with placards.
Their chairman, Ray Chikogu, said: “In this country, we are the only group of people who have been subjected to that kind of treatment, and we are saying we can’t take it anymore.
‘’We want to tell Nigerians that we have been on the same salary for 16 years, it has never happened anywhere in the world, it is only in Nigeria that lecturers and academics are treated with so much disdain.’’
Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academics, Prof. Victor Igbineweka and the Registrar, Ademola Bobola, received the protesters.
In Akure, ASUU-FUTA Chairman, Pius Mogaji, accused the government of treating issues affecting universities with “recklessness.”
He lamented that despite ‘’the conclusion and submission of the report of the Yayale Ahmed-led renegotiation committee in February 2025, the government allowed the document to ‘gather dust in the corridors of power.”
Mogaji said: ‘’These legitimate and long-standing issues remain unaddressed, a trend that threatens our already fragile educational sector and faces the imminent risk of yet another crisis
“Our patience has been stretched to its breaking point. Trust has been shattered, and only decisive government action can mend it. The NEC has resolved that all options remain on the table. If the government chooses provocation over responsibility, then it must bear the consequences of the storm that will follow.”
Oyibo Eze, chairman of ASUU-UNN, said Nigerians should hold the government responsible in case of any nationwide indefinite strike by the union.
“Government’s inability to implement the agreement reached with the union since 2009 is very unfortunate and an indication that education is not the priority of the government,” he said.
Speaking shortly after the protest on the NAU campus, Awka, the ASUU Chairman, Innocent Nnubia, regretted what he described as ‘’lingering and overdue 2009 renegotiation issues.’’
He said: “We, the ASUU NAU members, are grieved. You know what’s obtainable in Western countries. When there’s a problem in the system, they run to academia for a solution. But in Nigeria, the reverse is the case.
“This issue of renegotiation has lingered since 2009 and is overdue. We’re talking about funding of our universities.’’
The complaints were the same in BUK, where the ASUU chapter Vice-Chairman, Yusuf Madugu, lamented that since the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan released N200 billion revitalisation fund to be paid in six tranches, only one tranche had been released.
“These revitalisation funds are funds that are needed for funding our universities. We need reagents in our laboratories, books in our libraries, classrooms and a conducive atmosphere for students to learn,” he said.
President of the BUK Students Union Government, Abdullahi Usman-Baba, appealed to the government to dialogue with ASUU in the interest of students.
“When there is a strike, it is the students who suffer most because our academic calendar gets disrupted.
“We humbly plead with the government to sit with ASUU and listen to their demands,” Usman-Baba said.
At the Yakubu Gowon University, placard-carrying members said their salaries have remained on the same scale since 2009 in spite of repeated promises by the government.
Their chapter chairman, Sylvanus Ugoh, said: “We want the government and the public to understand the hardship we’re facing.
“Our members are dying in increasing numbers, 90 per cent of those deaths are stress-related.
“No nation can grow beyond the strength and quality of its university education system.”
Chairman of ASUU, UNIUYO, Opeyemi Olajide, said that lecturers in federal universities have been on a fixed salary for more than 16 years without any increase.
He added that the government refused to pay third-party deductions for salaries paid almost a year ago and arrears of promotion.
His UNICAL counterpart, Peter Ubi, said: “ASUU has tried several ways and strategies to resolve the conflict in the education sector.
“Unfortunately, the government, in its characteristics, has paid deaf ears to our demands and has constantly pushed our union to embark on a strike.
“In this regard, ASUU has to embark on a strike to press the federal government to do the needful.”
Some of the placards carried by the institutions’ lecturers read: “Our salaries are too poor, ‘pay us sustainable living salaries’, ‘Treat lecturers with some dignity’, `We are FG lecturers and not borrowers’ and ‘Government please sign and implement our renegotiated agreement.”
ASUU chairman in Zamfara State University, Abdulrahaman Adam, accused the government of using ‘’ multiple committees to manipulate and delay the implementation of its agreement with ASUU leadership.’’
He said: “Our condition of service is very poor, that is why we are running away to even Ghana and Cameroon, why can’t we do better than them?
The government is budgeting a huge amount of money for education, but things are not working the way they should. ‘’
