The Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU) has called on religious leaders, traditional rulers, students and the National Assembly, to caution the Federal Government against provoking university teachers to embark on nationwide strike.
Zonal Coordinator, ASUU Akure Zone, Professor Adeola Egbedokun stated this at a press conference at Federal University Oye Ekiti on Tuesday.
Egbedokun who expressed deep concern over the alleged failure of President Bola Tinubu administration to attend to the various demands of the union since his assumption of office two years ago, maintained that the Federal Government’s failure to heed ASUU’s several calls and agitations had pushed the lecturers to the edge, and their patience had been stretched to its breaking point.
He listed ASUU’s demands to include; implementation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, sustainable funding of Nigerian universities, revitalisation of the university system, payment of outstanding 25–35 per cent salary arrears, stagnated promotions for over four years, unremitted third-party deductions and victimisation of colleagues in some institutions.
He said: “We will fight back, and the consequences would be damning except the government takes a decisive step to attend to all our requests urgently.
“While we take note of the government’s planned meeting of August 28, 2025, let it be clear that the clock is ticking, and time is no longer on the government’s side. Our patience has been stretched to its breaking point. Trust has been shattered, and only decisive government action can mend it”.
Egbedokun continued, “the National Executive Committee has resolved that all options remain on the table. If the government chooses provocation over responsibility, if it continues to play games with the future of our universities, then it alone must bear the consequences of the storm that will follow. The ball is squarely in the government’s court.
He there called on “all well-meaning Nigerians – Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, National Association of Nigerian Students, traditional rulers, and the National Assembly to caution the government against pushing us into avoidable
confrontation”.
“For over two years, we have kept faith with the promise of dialogue and refrained from strike actions, but our patience has reached its limits. Our resources are drained, our tanks are dry, and this long road cannot be traveled any further without genuine results.
“Lecturers have remained frozen, stagnant, and insultingly irrelevant in today’s economy. It has become a bitter irony that the very lecturers who educate the nation cannot afford to pay their own children’s school fees,” he said.
