The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Akure Zone, has accused the Federal Government of misrepresenting the status of its ongoing negotiations with the union, warning that newly approved universities have become “centres of crisis” rather than solutions.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, the ASUU Zonal Coordinator, Prof. Adeola Egbedokun, faulted the government for approving new universities despite a seven-year moratorium on establishing additional federal tertiary institutions.
The freeze was approved by the Federal Executive Council after concerns about the proliferation of poorly funded institutions and overstretched resources. The moratorium followed a presentation by the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu Alausa.
Nevertheless, nine new universities — including one in Epe — were recently approved.
Flanked by ASUU branch chairmen from the seven universities under the Akure Zone, Egbedokun lamented that the government continued to expand the system while failing to adequately fund existing schools.
“A few months ago, government announced a seven-year moratorium on new universities. One of our long-standing demands is that instead of proliferating universities, government should strengthen the existing ones,” he said.
“It was agreed that no new licence would be issued for seven years, but we all saw what happened a few days ago when another university was approved. The government should live up to its word. Is seven years the same as seven days?”
Reviewing the status of negotiations since ASUU suspended its warning strike, Egbedokun said the union rejected the salary adjustment recently proposed by the Federal Government, describing it as “tokenistic and insulting.”
He stated, “The union rejects the 35% increase on the current salary of academics. While some progress has been made on non-monetary issues, the critical matters of pay and conditions of service remain unresolved and require decisive intervention.”
Egbedokun also criticised government officials for “distorting facts” about the negotiation process, noting that the piecemeal payment of promotion arrears dating back to 2017 and the delayed release of third-party deductions owed to members “must not be presented as achievements.”
With less than a month left in the grace period ASUU granted the government, he urged authorities to “act with clarity, commitment, and integrity to reach a comprehensive and lasting resolution.”
“Nothing short of a fair and respectable living wage for Nigerian academics is acceptable. The surest way to secure Nigeria’s future is to invest meaningfully in education,” he added.
He reiterated ASUU’s demands, including completing the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FG agreement, paying outstanding 25/35% salary arrears, settling promotion arrears, releasing unremitted third-party deductions, and ensuring sustainable university funding — warning that failure to act could trigger fresh industrial unrest.
ASUU leaders at the briefing included Prof. Anthony Odiwe (OAU), Prof. Bamidele Mogaji (FUTA), Prof. Sola Afolayan (EKSU), Dr. Abraham Oladebeye (UNIMED), Dr. Abayomi Fagbuagun (FUOYE), Dr. Babatope Ogundare (BOUESTI), and Dr. Bosun Ajisafe (Adeyemi Federal University of Education, Ondo).
Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Education has clarified that the approvals for the Federal University of Science and Technology, Epe, and two others in Kachia and Ogoniland were granted by President Bola Tinubu before the moratorium was imposed. According to Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, the institutions were approved “through a Presidential Executive Memo prior to FEC’s decision.”
