ASUU and FG will face off in 2025 over budget concerns.

If its demands are not fulfilled in 2025, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has stated that it is prepared to take the Federal Government to task.

Citing persistent disrespect for university instructors throughout 2024 as an obvious instance of abandonment, ASUU has charged the Federal Government with ignoring higher education in the nation.

Professor Ayo Akinwole, the chairman of the ASUU branch at the University of Ibadan, stated in a statement on Wednesday that the government has not taken any action to address the grievances brought forth by the organization.

He said that the union’s efforts, not those of the federal government, were the reason for the unbroken 2024 school year. Even so, there are still problems that have been brought to the authorities.

Professor Akinwole called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to renegotiate with ASUU and sign the renegotiated draft agreement sponsored by Nimi-Briggs, and he denounced the Federal Government’s implementation of an 18-year-old age requirement for university entrance.

The professor accused the government of ignoring important issues, including outstanding Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) arrears, the non-release of three and a half months’ worth of withheld salaries, the non-release of third-party deductions, such as scheduled loan repayments, personal savings for retirement plans, and cooperative contributions, and the lack of funding for the revitalization of public universities as outlined in the FGN-ASUU MoU of 2012, 2013, and the MoA of 2017.

Public universities are proliferating without sufficient funding, Visitation Panel reports are not being implemented, IPPI is not being replaced, and the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement has not been renegotiated.
“The relationship between our union and the Federal Government will be defined in 2025 by these outstanding issues that remain unresolved in 2024,” Akinwole stated.

“Having reviewed the state of education in Nigeria in 2024, it is time to set an agenda for 2025.”

He also chastised the government for failing to address the problems in the education sector, stating that if these problems are not resolved, a crisis may arise and the union may turn to a struggle in 2025.

In order to attract talented professionals, the ASUU chairman also pushed for higher salaries for university employees and emphasized the necessity of a comprehensive renovation of the country’s tertiary education sector’s infrastructure.

“Given the state of the national economy and the high cost of living, which have eroded the conditions of service of our members, the welfare of workers in the education sector and Nigerian workers is paramount,” the statement said.

Akinwole urged the Nimi-Briggs-led renegotiated draft agreement to be reviewed and signed as soon as possible. He made the case that university teachers’ pay should be brought back to the 2009 Agreement’s African average.

He claimed that because of the Nigerian Naira’s depreciation against the US dollar, the professorial pay, which was set at $3,000 in 2009, is now only $200.

Additionally, he called for the rejection of measures that commodify higher education and denounced the Federal Government’s assault on the TETFund. Rather, he argued that Nigeria should follow the example of nations like Germany, which provides free and well-funded education.

Prof. Akinwole also emphasized how inadequate the financial allotments to the education sector are, as they continue to fall short of the widely recognized standard of 15 to 20 percent.