N’Assembly

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has called on stakeholders, including the National Assembly, religious leaders, traditional rulers, and students, to caution the Federal Government against pushing university teachers to embark on nationwide strike. The Zonal Coordinator, ASUU Akure Zone, Professor Adeola Egbedokun, expressed deep concern over the alleged failure of President Bola Tinubu administration to attend to the various demands of the union since his assumption of office two years ago. Egbedokun, who spoke at a press conference at Federal University Oye Ekiti on Tuesday, said that the Federal Government’s failure to heed ASUU’s several calls and agitations had pushed the lecturers to the edge, and their patience had been stretched to its breaking point. He stated that ASUU demands included implementation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, sustainable funding of Nigerian universities, revitalisation of the university system, payment of outstanding 25–35 per cent 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,” he said. The ASUU zonal chairman said that 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. “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.