The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Owerri Zone, has expressed deep concern over what it described as the Federal Government’s failure to fully implement the 2025 agreement reached with the union, warning that the delay could trigger fresh disruptions in Nigerian universities.
The union called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene in unresolved salary, pension and welfare issues affecting lecturers in order to prevent growing tensions from escalating into another industrial crisis within the university system.
Speaking during a press briefing held on Tuesday at the ASUU Secretariat of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, the Zonal Coordinator of ASUU Owerri Zone, Prof. Dennis Aribodor, criticised what he termed the “distorted and uncoordinated implementation” of the agreement by government officials and some university authorities.
According to him, the goodwill generated after the unveiling of the 2025 FG/ASUU Agreement on January 14, 2026, is gradually fading due to the government’s inability to fulfil its promises.
“We are apprehensive that the momentum of trust and goodwill generated with the unveiling of the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement is fast waning and may soon be lost if the government’s promise to fully implement the Agreement is not kept,” Aribodor stated.
He blamed the situation partly on the Federal Government’s failure to inaugurate the Implementation Monitoring Committee expected to oversee the execution of the agreement and prevent bureaucratic bottlenecks.
The ASUU leader accused some federal university administrators of selectively implementing aspects of the agreement, particularly regarding allowances meant for academic staff.
“Administrators of Federal universities are picking and choosing what to pay among the Consolidated Academic Tool Allowances, Earned Academic Allowances and Professorial Allowances, whereas all of these should have been mainstreamed with the Consolidated Academic Staff Salary Scale,” he said.
Aribodor further lamented that despite active participation by representatives of state universities during negotiations, many state governments had failed to implement the agreement.
While commending some universities in the Northern and Western regions for complying with parts of the agreement, he expressed disappointment that no state university in the South-East had implemented it.
ASUU Owerri Zone comprises Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Federal University of Technology Owerri, Imo State University, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
The union also criticised unresolved issues surrounding arrears of the 25–35 per cent salary award, promotion arrears and unremitted third-party deductions, including pension contributions, cooperative deductions, housing fund deductions and union dues.
On research funding, Aribodor faulted the Federal Government’s proposed National Research and Innovation Development Fund announced by the Minister of Education on April 7, 2026.
He argued that the proposal failed to reflect the provisions of the FG/ASUU agreement, which recommended funding research and innovation with at least one per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product.
“We are surprised that the Minister’s proposal talks of $500 million without reference to the FGN-ASUU Agreement,” he said.
The union warned that it would resist any attempt by external interests to derail the agreed research and development framework.
ASUU also condemned the continued application of the “no work, no pay” policy against lecturers, describing it as unfair and degrading to academic professionals.
The union appealed to traditional rulers, religious leaders, students, parents, labour unions, media organisations and civil society groups to pressure both federal and state governments into faithfully implementing the agreement to avoid another round of industrial unrest in Nigerian universities.