The Ibadan Zone of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said that the Federal Government is yet to meet demands of the Union, warning of a full-blown strike due to the discouraging manners by which the Federal Government has been handling the industrial dispute declared by the Union of Intellectuals.
Biodun Olaniran, Professor and the Coordinator, Ibadan Zone of the Union, while addressing the Press at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, said it “had expected that a Government focused on national development, technological innovation and advancement would spare no effort to work within the deadline by giving a marching order to its agents; unfortunately, the Federal Government had been dealing with Union bereft of the seriousness the issues deserve. Regrettably, just about eight days to the expiration of the one-month window, nothing significant has been done other than the usual misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda.
ASUU acknowledging “the release of part of the four-year promotion arrears, third-party deductions such as union dues, cooperative and pension deductions being flaunted by Government, it however, maintained that these should not be misconstrued by Nigerians as having resolved the demands of ASUU.” It stated that Government functionaries were feeding the public with false news while frustrating efforts to speedily conclude the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement.
ASUU stated that the real demand “of our Union is the re-negotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement being currently handled by the Alhaji Yayale Ahmed-led Committee that will produce a new salary structure to replace the Consolidated University Salary Scale (CONUASS) given the galloping inflation in the country since then”.
ASUU declared a two-week warning strike on 13th October 2025; the strike was suspended five days to its expiration due to perceived genuine interventions from students, their parents, Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the media and all other critical stake holders.
The Union then gave a month window in line with the ultimatum given by the NLC for governments to conclude the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement as well as to resolve all the associated issues.
Olaniran, flanked by other Chairmen from the Zone disclosed that, “The just concluded National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of ASUU held at Taraba State University, Jalingo on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th November 2025 clinically X-rayed the state of our engagements with the Federal Government and visitors to State Universities. The current state of insecurity and excruciating economic situation in the country and its negative impacts on the welfare of the members of our ASUU, called for great concern by all stakeholders in the educational sector.
“The role being played by Government functionaries in the process of renegotiating the Agreement with the Union is negatively worrisome, to say the least. Unless the Federal Government holds the bull by the horn, by offering a competitive salary structure within the remaining timeline, our students in the public universities across the nation may have their academic calendars disrupted, once again. ASUU, Ibadan Zone, therefore identifies the urgent need to prevail on governments to avert this looming crisis”, he added.
Credit: BusinessDay
