The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has criticised the Federal Government for approving new tertiary institutions despite a previously announced seven-year ban, warning that the move will deepen the existing rot in Nigeria’s public universities.
Speaking at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, on Thursday, ASUU Akure Zonal Coordinator, Prof. Adeola Egbedokun, told journalists that the newly approved universities were already turning into “crisis centres,” owing to the same funding and staffing problems plaguing existing institutions.
Egbedokun said the union was shocked that Abuja issued fresh licences despite the moratorium it announced earlier in the year.
“A few months back, the government came up with a kind of moratorium of seven years… Is seven years the same thing as seven days?” he asked, accusing the authorities of abandoning their own policy.
He noted that many federal universities still lack adequate funding, basic infrastructure, and payment of long-standing staff entitlements. Creating new universities, he warned, without first stabilising existing ones, would only worsen their condition.
The union also expressed frustration with stalled negotiations between ASUU and the Federal Government, especially the proposed salary adjustment, which it described as “tokenistic and insulting.”
“In clear terms, the Union has rejected the offer of 35% increase on the current salary of academics,” Egbedokun said, insisting that such an offer would not stem the tide of brain drain or keep lecturers in the system.
While acknowledging slight progress in non-salary matters, the ASUU leader maintained that “the key issues remain unresolved.”
He criticised what he called “undermining tactics” by some government officials and condemned the “piecemeal payment” of promotion arrears dating back to 2017, saying they should not be celebrated as achievements.
Egbedokun warned that the government has less than a month to demonstrate sincerity and take concrete steps toward resolving lingering issues.
“Nothing short of a fair and respectable living wage for Nigerian academics is acceptable,” he said.
ASUU also restated its long-standing demands, including:
- completion of the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU–FGN Agreement
- payment of outstanding 25/35% salary arrears
- full payment of accumulated promotion arrears
- release of unremitted third-party deductions
- sustainable funding for Nigerian universities
- and other unresolved commitments.
He cautioned that continued inaction by the Federal Government could trigger fresh industrial action across campuses.
Top ASUU officials from OAU, FUTA, EKSU, UNIMED, FUOYE, BOUESTI, and Adeyemi Federal University of Education attended the briefing.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has clarified that the presidential approvals for the new universities in Epe, Kachia, and Ogoniland were issued before the moratorium was announced. According to Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, the institutions were approved “through a Presidential Executive Memo prior to the FEC’s decision.”