By Adenike Lawal
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expressed cautious optimism over recent assurances from the Minister of Education about dialogue and relationship-building, but warned that the government must translate rhetoric into tangible action on unresolved issues in the university system.
In a strongly worded statement, the union painted a grim picture of life for lecturers across Nigeria’s public universities, describing them as “teaching on empty stomachs” while working in underfunded environments. ASUU lamented that academic staff are forced to carry out research in poorly equipped libraries and laboratories lacking basic books, journals, chemicals, and reagents, while also struggling with unpaid bills, children’s school fees, rent, and other personal obligations.
Despite these challenges, the union said Nigerian elites are quick to fault universities for producing “unemployable graduates” or for failing to generate innovative research to solve national problems. ASUU noted that its members feel “forgotten, shamed, and demoralised” by successive administrations that have ignored their plight.
The union reiterated that it has consistently warned both federal and state governments the statutory “owners” of public universities about the dangers of neglecting an intellectual workforce that is increasingly disempowered and dissatisfied. Central to its demands is adherence to collective bargaining principles, as enshrined in International Labour Organisation Conventions 98 (1949) and 154 (1981).
ASUU criticised the “flip-flop” approach of past and present governments toward these principles, citing the stalled renegotiation of the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement. It recalled that a revised draft agreement submitted by the Alhaji Yayale Ahmed committee in December 2024 has remained untouched for eight months, despite its aim of addressing long-standing disputes over conditions of service, funding, university autonomy, and academic freedom.
The union accused government representatives of cherry-picking parts of agreements to implement, offering token gestures instead of addressing the root problems, and undermining the morale of lecturers. It also dismissed recent proposals to lure Nigerian academics abroad back as “volunteers” under a so-called “Diaspora Bridge,” describing the plan as hypocritical without first fixing the local system that drove them away.
ASUU further expressed alarm over political interference in university governance, condemning the re-appointment bid of the Acting Vice Chancellor of Alvan Ikoku University of Education despite irregularities in her academic promotions. Similar concerns, it noted, are emerging in other federal universities.
Calling on “genuine patriots” to pressure the authorities into resolving all pending labour issues, ASUU warned that failure to act swiftly could trigger another nationwide strike. “Nigerian academics are tired of governments’ excuses,” the union declared.
