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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned Nigerians to hold the Federal Government accountable for the disruption that will soon hit Nigerian universities.

The union’s Benin Zone issued the warning on Monday during a press conference held at Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba, Delta State.

Speaking on behalf of ASUU chairmen from universities under the zone, the Zonal Coordinator, Dr. Monday Igbafen, lamented that lecturers remain the most neglected group in the country.

He declared, “We want to tell Nigerians not to hold ASUU responsible, but hold the Federal Government responsible for the paralysis that will be done to Nigerian universities in few days to come. On behalf of the Benin Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, I wish to welcome you to this conference.”

Explaining further, he listed the institutions within the Benin Zone, saying, “The Benin zone of ASUU comprises University of Benin, Benin City, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, Delta State University, Abraka, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, University of Delta, Agbor, Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba and Southern Delta University, Ozoro.”

Igbafen accused the Federal Government of deliberately undermining education. “We are compelled to call you again at this defining moment in the history of university education in Nigeria, as it has become crystal clear that the Federal Government and its agents are inexplicably determined to cripple academic activities in the nation’s universities once more,” he said.

According to him, since ASUU suspended its last strike in October 2022, the government has failed to honour key commitments. “Since the suspension of our last strike action in October 2022, the Federal Government is yet to make good its promise to actualise the review of our dismal conditions of service. It is yet to sign the draft renegotiated 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement, which our union views as a significant milestone in the resolution of the issues at hand,” he stated.

He insisted that the renegotiated agreement was crucial. “The satisfactory and conclusive renegotiation of the Agreement and its successful implementation is the only desirable solution to the worsening living and working conditions of staff, the pandemic problem of underfunding and other challenges of university governance in Nigeria,” he added

The union also criticised the government for unpaid entitlements and withheld salaries. “At the moment, the Federal Government is still unwilling to pay up years of arrears of promotion entitlements, still pays lip service to the duty of adequately funding education and continues to be reluctant to release our withheld three and a half months’ salaries and third-party deductions,” Igbafen said.

He described the hardship lecturers face: “It is unimaginable that, in the face of the daily exponential increases in the cost of basic services and goods in Nigeria, university lecturers have been abandoned to grapple with the harsh realities of an abysmally poor salary structure they have had to endure for 16 agonising years. Nigerians should be aware that this is a critical moment in the history of university education in the country, as it is currently on the precipice.”

Calling for urgent intervention, he appealed to stakeholders. “It is on this basis that we call on all well-meaning Nigerians — students, parents, civil society organisations, the press, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), statesmen, captains of industry and other stakeholders — to prevail on the Federal and various State Governments in our country to honour their agreements with ASUU and prevent the nation’s educational sector from sliding further into an undesirable level of decay and dysfunction.”

ASUU maintained that going on strike is never its first choice. The union said its members have exhausted all options but remain frustrated as government officials continue to neglect Nigerian universities while sending their own children to study abroad.

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