The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) 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 a nationwide strike.
Professor Adeola Egbedokun, Zonal Coordinator of ASUU Akure Zone, voiced significant worry about the purported failure of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to address the union’s varied requests since assuming office two years ago.
Egbedokun, speaking at a news conference at Federal University Oye Ekiti on Tuesday, expressed frustration with the Federal Government’s refusal to respond to ASUU’s pleas and agitations.
He stated that ASUU demands included the implementation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, long-term funding of Nigerian universities, revitalisation of the university system, payment of outstanding 25-35% salary arrears, stagnant 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 will be damning unless 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 – the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, the 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 travelled 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 stated that the report of the Alhaji Yayale Ahmed-led renegotiation, which was painstakingly completed and submitted in 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 urged ASUU members not to subscribe to a loan policy announced by the Federal Government, claiming it was an attempt to lock them up indefinitely.
“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 revealed that ASUU members in the zone organised peaceful marches on their respective campuses on Monday to test the next move if the government remained resolute.
