Campus Unrest Grows as ASUU Protests Before FG Dialogue

Just days before a high-level negotiation with the Federal Government, members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) stormed campuses across the country on Tuesday in coordinated protests, warning that a breakdown in dialogue could spark another nationwide strike.

From Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife to the Federal University of Lafia, University of Ilorin, University of Calabar, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, University of Maiduguri, Abia State University, FUTA, Plateau State University, and Osun State University, lecturers carried placards, sang solidarity songs, and restated grievances they say have lingered for more than a decade.

Their demands include the implementation of the 2009 ASUU–FGN agreement, release of withheld salaries covering three and a half months, payment of outstanding arrears and promotion benefits, revitalisation of public universities, adoption of UTAS instead of IPPIS, and rejection of the government’s proposed education loan scheme.

At Ile-Ife, OAU branch chairman, Prof. Tony Odiwe, lamented that lecturers have been trapped on the same wage structure since 2009. He accused the government of deliberately stalling on the Yayale Ahmed renegotiation report submitted in February 2025. “If this government allows peace on campuses to collapse, the responsibility will be theirs,” he warned.

Similar frustration echoed in Akure, where zonal coordinator Prof. Adeola Egbedokun told protesters at FUOYE that patience had run out: “We work under extreme hardship, many of us live on debt. Government cannot provoke lecturers indefinitely without expecting consequences.”

At Plateau State University, National ASUU President Prof. Chris Piwuna and Vice Chancellor Prof. Shedrack Best joined demonstrators, condemning poor funding, withheld allowances, and what they described as a clampdown on university autonomy through IPPIS.

In Sokoto, protesters from three institutions converged, with UDUS branch chair, Prof. Nurudeen Almustapha, dismissing the government’s loan programme as a “poisoned chalice” and urging immediate action on the renegotiation report.

Placards at UNILORIN carried bold inscriptions such as “University staff are not slaves” and “Honour your agreement.” Branch chairman, Dr. Alex Akanmu, said Nigeria’s failure to honour signed agreements had left the university system near total collapse.

Protests in Calabar, Maiduguri, Umuahia, and Osogbo followed the same pattern: rejection of the loan scheme, outcry over unpaid arrears, and warnings that lecturers could no longer cope with deteriorating welfare conditions. At FUTA, Prof. Pius Mogaji accused the government of “reckless indifference,” while UNICAL branch chair, Peter Ubi, said Abuja had destroyed trust and forced members into debt.

Across the campuses, the message was uniform: if Thursday’s Abuja meeting fails to yield results, ASUU is prepared to shut down universities once again.