Our dear Compatriots of the Press,
I welcome and thank you immensely for honouring our invitation to this press conference at a very short notice. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has always counted on your partnership at very critical moments over the years and we gladly acknowledge your unwavering support. We do not take your solidarity for granted and we extend the solidarity of our members, through you, to all progressive forces in Nigeria and beyond.
You will recall that the National Delegates’ Conference (NDC) of our Union was held at the University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State between 9th and 11th May, 2025. Delegates at the NDC, among other things, took a critical look at the declining fortunes of university education and its implications for Nigeria’s yearnings for transformative change and lasting development. This press conference is necessitated by the need to share our burdens both for the education of Nigerian youths and the development of our dear country with you and other patriotic Nigerians and friends of Nigeria.
The ordinary citizens of our country have become the victims of prolonged political manipulations and economic exploitation by the ruling class and their foreign sponsors. The university system has not been spared from the whirlwind of policy misadventures and orchestrated befuddlement of the polity. The governments of Nigeria, at the Federal and State levels, merely pay lip-service to the business of education in general and the welfare of university academics in particular. It is saddening that the tortuous journey of renegotiating the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement has continued endlessly since 2017. The last push, which got frozen again after some recommendations by both parties were made for government’s consideration and approval in December 2024, is yet to be concluded. Our members in the last two years or so have had to contend with enormous challenges arising from hostile work environment and debilitating conditions of service. We shall attempt to elaborate on this shortly.
THE STATUS OF THE 2009 FGN/ASUU AGREEMENT
To start with, ASUU wishes to state that the level of implementation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement is not encouraging. Although a few of the issues are partially implemented, a large number of issues still remain unaddressed. These include:
Conclusion of the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement based on Nimi Briggs Committee’s Draft Agreement of 2021;
Release of withheld three-and-half months salaries on account of the 2022 strike action;
Release of unpaid salaries of staff on sabbatical, part-time and adjunct appointments due to the application of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS);
Release of outstanding third-party deductions such as check-off dues and cooperative contributions;
Funding for revitalization of public universities;
Payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA);
Proliferation of universities by Federal and State Governments;
Non-constitution of some universities’ Governing Councils; and Adoption of University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) in place of IPPIS.
It is noted that the government has made promises on some of these issues. The government agreed to mainstream the EAA into the salaries with the creation of “Irregular Allowance” as a budget line in the 2026 Budget, after the release of Fifty Billion for backlog and budgeting Twenty-nine Billion for payment of 2025 Earned Academic Allowances. Similarly, the government also agreed to release One Hundred and Fifty Billion Naira as re-vitalization fund within four weeks with effect from April, 2025. However, we are still waiting for government to fulfil these promises. The Union has also reached an understanding with Yayale Ahmed-led Committee, with the review of the report of the Nimi Briggs–led FGN-ASUU Renegotiation Committee in December 2024. Again, ASUU members have been left in limbo; waiting for the signing of an Agreement five months after!
Delegates at the UNIBEN NDC exhaustively evaluated government’s disposition in resolving outstanding issues with the Union and expressed regrets that nothing has significantly changed in the last two years. The irreducible minimum that can guarantee industrial harmony in the Nigeria University System (NUS) is for government to speedily address all outstanding issues including conclusion of the renegotiation of 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement, payment of the withheld-three-and-half months’ salaries, release of the backlog of promotion arrears, payment of withheld salaries of sabbatical/part-time lecturers on account of not signing into the discredited IPPIS, and addressing the unjust victimization of ASUU leaders and members in some state universities. Beyond these, we demand a faithful implementation of all issues arising from our previous Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and Memoranda of Action (MoAs) government signed with ASUU since 2013.
THE STRUGGLES IN STATE UNIVERSITIES
The onslaughts against our members in some state universities by the University Administrations, Governing Councils and Visitors have not abated. Even though some issues in places like Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Abia State University, Uturu, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, and Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki have been addressed, a number of other issues are still outstanding about the entitlements of our members. Again, and sadly, the unconscionable persecution of our members still persists full swing at the Kogi State University, Anyigba and Lagos State University, Ojo. ASUU hereby calls on the State Governors and Visitors to these universities to, without further hesitation, resolve the lingering issues and reinstate our members without further delay in the interest of justice and industrial peace.
EROSION OF UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY
Great Compatriots, some recent developments in Nigeria’s public universities are of grave concern to our Union. We are discomfited by the ongoing attempts to completely erode the autonomy of public universities by the political class and the bureaucrats. The following are some examples:
Non-adherence to extant laws in the processes associated with appointment of principal officers in universities resulting in endless crises as recorded at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, University of Abuja, Alvan Ikoku University, Owerri and Admiralty University, Ibuzor.
Undue interference by the Office of Head of Service, Ministries, Federal Character Commission and National Assembly in the administration of the Universities contrary to the Laws governing the institutions.
Continued payment of salaries through the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation using GIFMIS (abridged IPPIS) and expenditures using Treasury Single Account (TSA) system as against the understanding reached with ASUU.
Overtly and covertly, Nigeria’s public universities are being turned into theatres of war during selection of principal officers while vested interests wantonly make incursions into the affairs of the universities for economic, political and sundry benefits. We call on all political actors and bureaucrats involved in these and related acts to retrace their steps as ASUU will not fold its arms and watch the continued derailment of our universities from their primary objects of quality teaching, research and community
STATE OF THE NATION: NIGERIA AT A CROSSROAD
Compatriots of the Press, it is now obvious to all and sundry that Nigeria is currently at the crossroads as an underdeveloped country. A land of boundless promise and monumental opportunities is paradoxically confronted with staggering contradictions. More than six decades after independence, the nation continues to wrestle with political instability, governance crises, multi-dimensional insecurity, economic uncertainties and neoliberal imperialist assaults, social discontent and disequilibrium, debilitating and suffocating mass poverty, and most glaringly, a bastardized, debased, underfunded and deteriorating education sector. The question remains: how can a country so rich in human and natural resources remain trapped in a nest of underdevelopment? The answer lies partly in our collective failure to prioritize education, the bedrock of any sustainable progress and development. You cannot develop a knowledge-based economy without a strong education system. Similarly, a viable people-centered democracy is impossible without the involvement of educated and informed citizenry.
Civilian rule in Nigeria, though sustained since 1999, has largely been transactional rather than transformational. Elections are characterized by rigging and voter suppression while violence becomes an avenue for mass disempowerment and democratic deconsolidation. Leadership, rather than being service-oriented, has too frequently become a means of personal enrichment and primitive accumulation. Institutional weaknesses, bureaucratic inefficiencies, and endemic grand corruption continue to undermine governance at all levels.
Although there are flashes of reform -minded individuals and active civil society actors, the connection between government policies and the realities of the common Nigerian remain disturbingly problematic. Citizens feel increasingly alienated from the unfeeling, non-responsive and exploitative political system. The lack of inclusiveness, transparency and accountability as well as unaddressed and increasingly worsening existential conditions brought about by uncritical adoption of neoliberal economic policies has bred apathy, cynicism, self-help, criminality and exit (Japa) mentality especially among the youths.
Nigeria remains the proverbial tiny island of abundant wealth in an ocean of poverty. With its vast oil reserves, agricultural potentials, and energetic young population, the country should be a leader in global development. Instead, it wrestles with high unemployment, staggering inflation, and a highly devalued currency which continually erode the purchasing power of the poor masses. While the informal economy keeps millions afloat, yet it receives little attention in national policy considerations. Attempts at economic diversification – particularly in technology and agriculture, show promises but require bold long-term commitment and infrastructure development. There is the question of sincerity of purpose of these reforms as well as the ideological felicity that informs them. The ongoing massive brain-drain – characterized by emigration of professionals and young graduates seeking greener pasture abroad – is a damning indictment on those who manage our affairs and a testament to the unmitigated failure of their ill-informed policies and reforms.
Perhaps nothing speaks more loudly to Nigeria’s current state than the widespread insecurity that grips the land. From Boko Haram in the North-East to banditry in the North-West, the hydra-headed farmers-herders conflicts in the North Central, kidnapping in the South, secessionist agitations in the South-East and jungle justice across the country, it is obvious that no region is immune. The deepening climate of fear not only stalls development, it also expands the fault lines among Nigeria’s diverse ethnic and religious groups. Security agencies are overwhelmed, and public confidence in their ability to safeguard lives and property continues to wane. Without peace and stability, development remains a mirage!
REBUILDING THE NATION THROUGH EDUCATION
If Nigeria is to break free from the vicious cycle of backwardness and underdevelopment, education must be placed at the centre of our national rebirth. It is through education that citizens are empowered, values are instilled, innovation is birthed, creativity promoted and formidable nations are built. There is a need for an education summit where we sit together to deliberate on the sort of education system that we want. One of the major challenges of our public education is funding. All our agreements with the Nigeria government, to-date, have always made well thought-out recommendations on education funding and we call on the ruing class to create the environment for genuine engagement with Nigerian academics along this trajectory.
It is axiomatic that the Nigeria’s youth, who make up over 60% of the population, represent both its greatest asset and its gravest risk. On one hand, they are dynamic, innovative, entrepreneurial, and digitally savvy and connected. On the other, they are frustrated, angry, unemployed, agitated and increasingly disillusioned. The depth of youth anger is getting deeper with the potential for organized civic action. However, without meaningful reforms and opportunities, such energy could be redirected into more radical or destructive expressions. The “End SARS” riots that swept across the nation a few years back is a graphic demonstration of this fact.
CONCLUSION
Almost three decades since Nigeria’s return to civilian governance, it is not yet Uhuru. The country is still pathetically trapped in the web of multifaceted political malfeasance graphically sign-posted by prebendal politics, mindless manipulation of electoral processes, brazen nepotism and deliberate subversion of people’s will at every level of governance. The sum total of all these is that transparency and accountability have become rare commodities in the hands of the managers of the Nigerian state. Consequently, the generality of citizenry have become despondent, having lost hope and faith in government and its agencies.
If given the desired attention, Nigeria’s universities should provide the solution ground to solving its multi-faceted and multi-dimensional problems. ASUU has remained focused in the struggle for improved funding and revitalization of these institutions. The TETfund resources that should solely be channelled into this process are under threat of diversion and misapplication by the government agents. The diversion of TETfund money into NELfund is a graphic example.
We call on all patriotic Nigerians and friends of Nigeria to continue to support ASUU’s cause in rescuing Nigerian education for the development of Nigeria. A starting point to achieve this noble goal is to prevail on government to address all outstanding issues in our previous engagements. This will create a conducive atmosphere for addressing the welfare issues of Nigerian academics for the optimal discharge of their statutory responsibilities as the think-tank of the country and mentors for future leaders in all aspects of national development. ASUU remains open to discussion in this respect. However, the Union would not continue to look helpless while the rights of its members are being trampled upon and washed away with reckless abandon.
The struggle continues!
Thank you for your kind attention.