The Ibadan Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, on Monday, warned against another round of industrial action, saying this might be inevitable if urgent steps are not taken.
This warning was issued by the Zonal Coordinator of the union, Prof Biodun Olaniran, at a press conference on Monday held at the University of Ibadan ASUU Secretariat in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
He stressed that the relative peace in Nigerian universities in recent months was largely due to the union’s patience and expectation that the government would honour its promises.
“ASUU members are increasingly frustrated with the government’s delay tactics, the so-called ‘keep them talking’ syndrome.
“Even a goat, when pushed to the wall, will eventually react,” he said.
Olaniran highlighted several outstanding demands, including the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, sustainable funding and revitalisation of universities, restoration of university autonomy, payment of withheld salaries, arrears of promotions, and mainstreaming of Earned Academic Allowance.
The coordinator said that despite a draft agreement reached in 2021 with the government’s own renegotiation committee, authorities have refused to sign and implement the document.
He lamented that the Yayale Ahmed report, submitted in February 2025, which addressed all contentious issues, was also ignored.
On funding, ASUU faulted the President Bola Tinubu administration for allocating just seven per cent of the 2025 national budget to education, far below the UNESCO-recommended 15–26 per cent.
“Our universities are plagued by underfunding, decaying infrastructure, poorly equipped laboratories, and deplorable hostels.
“None of our public universities rank among the top 1,000 globally,” he lamented.
He condemned what it described as the victimisation of ASUU members at Lagos State University, Kogi State University, and the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, where union leaders face trumped-up charges and illegal withholding of salaries.
On university autonomy, the union decried the unlawful dissolution of governing councils, imposition of political appointees, and the erosion of Senate powers through the National Universities Commission’s centralised curriculum.
ASUU further demanded the release of the three-and-a-half months’ salaries withheld during the 2022 strike, as well as arrears from the 25–35 per cent wage award announced by the government but yet to be implemented.
The union also described the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System as fraudulent, citing unremitted third-party deductions and the non-payment of promotion arrears for over four years in many universities.
“We are peace-loving, but we will not continue to watch our members’ welfare sacrificed to the government’s delay tactics.
“Another crisis in the university system can only be prevented if the Federal Government honours its commitments,” he said.
