ASUU to Nigerians: FG Still Ignoring Our Key Demand
The Ibadan Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) warned yesterday about a potential full-scale strike. They cited the federal government’s inadequate response to the ongoing industrial dispute declared by the union.
At a press conference at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in Ogbomoso, the Coordinator of the Ibadan Zone, Prof. Biodun Olaniran, said government officials were misleading the public with false information. This misinformation hinders efforts to quickly finalize the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement.
ASUU’s main demand is the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/Academic Staff Union of Universities Agreement, currently under review by the Alhaji Yayale Ahmed-led Committee. This committee aims to create a new salary structure to replace the Consolidated University Salary Scale (CONUASS) due to the inflation that has occurred since then.
On October 13, 2025, ASUU began a two-week warning strike. They called it off five days early due to perceived sincere interventions from students, parents, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the media, and other important stakeholders.
The union then gave a month’s notice, based on the ultimatum from the NLC, for the government to finish renegotiating the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and to resolve all related issues.
The Academic Staff Union (ASUU) in the Ibadan Zone includes the University of Ibadan, University of Ilorin, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Osun State University, Kwara State University, and Emmanuel Alayande University of Education.
The press conference featured speeches from Zonal Coordinator Prof. Biodun Olaniran, along with other chairpersons from the zone, including Adefemi Afolabi (ASUU-UI), Alex Akanmu (ASUU-UNILORIN), Ben Olujimi Dada (ASUU-LAUTECH), Olaosebikan Wende (ASUU-UNIOSUN), Shehu Abdulganiyu Salau (ASUU-KWASU), and Michael Bamidele Ojo (ASUU-EAUED).
Prof. Olaniran expressed that ASUU expected a government focused on national progress and innovation to fulfill its commitments. Unfortunately, the Federal Government has not dealt with the Union seriously.
With only eight days left in the one-month timeframe, little real progress has been made, apart from the usual misinformation and propaganda.
While ASUU acknowledged the partial release of four years’ worth of promotion arrears and the clearing of third-party deductions like union dues and pension contributions—issues the government highlights—they insisted that these should not be seen as meeting the union’s demands.
The union leader stated that the recent National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of ASUU at Taraba State University, Jalingo, on November 8 and 9, 2025, critically assessed conversations with the Federal Government and state university visitors.
The ongoing issues of insecurity and the tough economic conditions in the country disproportionately affect the welfare of ASUU members. All parties in the educational sector should pay serious attention to these matters.
The counterproposals from the government, presented by the Alhaji Yayale Ahmed-led Committee, have been clearly rejected by our Union. It is inappropriate and unacceptable to offer such absurd proposals to academic staff who have not received a salary increase in 16 years.
This pay is significantly lower than what many West African countries provide their academic staff, while Nigerian politicians remain the highest-paid political office holders in Africa, if not globally. The issue is a lack of political will, not a lack of financial resources, to support quality education in Nigeria.
Professor Olaniran noted that the three and a half months’ salaries of our members in federal universities, withheld by the federal government, triggered our union’s strike in 2022 and are still not released.
Many state universities have also yet to distribute the withheld salaries, promotion arrears, and Earned Academic Allowances (EAA). For instance, Osun State University has not released salaries owed to union members from 2018 and 2020, along with the arrears for the reduced EAA from 2015 to 2019.
LAUTECH, Ogbomoso, has also not paid EAA and promotion arrears. KWASU has not received EAA, and several other state universities in the country are facing similar issues.
Our union strongly condemns this apathetic and anti-labor behavior. Therefore, we demand the immediate payment of all outstanding salaries, promotion arrears, and pending EAA to the academic staff of universities who are part of ASUU.
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