The Federal government have been advised to take advantage of the remaining days to the expiration of a one-month window handed to it by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to resolve the lingering issues in the public tertiary education system.
The Owerri zone of the ASUU gave the warning during a press conference on Thursday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka ASUU secretariat.
Recall that the ASUU had reviewed the then ongoing two-week warning strike, declared on 13th October, 2025, and resolved to suspend the strike action on 22nd October, 2025, 5 days before the expiration of the two weeks.
The Union gave a one-month window to the government to resolve all issues.
But, according to the Owerri Zonal Coordinator of the body, Prof Dennis Aribodor, eight days to the end of the one-month window period, nothing concrete has been done to address the lingering issues.
He said the call has become necessary to avert further disruption in the schools’ academic calendar.
Aribodor accused government functionaries of undermining the negotiation process through subtle misrepresentation of offers and implementation of agreements just to score cheap political points.
He described the part payment of promotion arrears dating as far back as 2017, release of third-party deductions, which were part of members’ salaries for years, as mere confidence measures, insisting they must not be construed as the substantial issues of the negotiation process.
According to him, framing of government’s implementation is not the true reflection of reality and this strategy portends great danger to the renegotiation as it casts doubt to the sincerity of the government.
He said, “The Government’s objective must not be to win the narrative but to solve the real problems. That’s the way forward.
“Government is hereby advised to utilize the remaining days to the expiration of the one-month window given to achieve a holistic resolution of the issues, particularly to uplift the take-home pay of academics in Nigeria.
“The surest way to protect the future of our country is to invest adequately in education. Education is a public good. Education as the bedrock of any society deserves special attention in Nigeria, given the deficit in our education infrastructure.”
Aribodor noted that contrary to the claim of paucity of funds and economic downturn, evidences show that there has been a quantum leap in the revenue profile of both the Federal and State Governments.
“For example, in 2022, according to data from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee, the states received a total of 3.92 trillion Naira, while the figure for 2024 was 5.81 trillion Naira.
“This is an increase of over 62%. Similarly, the Federal Government received 3.42 trillion naira in 2022 and 4.65 trillion naira in 2024, representing an increase of over 70%.
“It is the political will or lack of it, and not economic factors, that have been undermining the resolution of this renegotiation process, as the revenue profile above clearly supports this claim.
“Nigerian Government should not be comfortable with lecturers being on the same salary for 16 years with all the devaluations and inflation,” he said.
The ASUU Owerri Zone called on all stakeholders, including traditional rulers, religious leaders, students, the NLC, media, and the civil society, to urge the government to do the right things and give lecturers a living wage within the remaining days of the one-month window period.
“ASUU Owerri Zone also expects 100% payment of all outstanding arrears, including 25-35% wage award, three and a half months withheld salaries, promotion arrears, and third-party deductions.
