ASUU: FG Deliberately Destroying Nigeria’s Future

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nsukka Zone, has accused the Federal Government of deliberately undermining the country’s future by failing to conclude the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement. Speaking during a press conference held at the Benue State University, Makurdi, a Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Comrade Christian Opata, described the government’s continued […]

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nsukka Zone, has accused the Federal Government of deliberately undermining the country’s future by failing to conclude the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement.

Speaking during a press conference held at the Benue State University, Makurdi, a Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Comrade Christian Opata, described the government’s continued delay and insincerity in addressing long standing issues in the education sector as threats national development.

Opata, who spoke on behalf of eight universities in the zone, including the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Benue State University, Makurdi; Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi; Enugu State University of Science and Technology; Kogi State University; Federal University, Lokoja; Federal University, Wukari; and Federal University of Health Sciences, Otukpo, accused government officials of paying lip service to education.

He said ASUU had engaged in numerous negotiations and signed agreements with the government for over a decade, but each effort was frustrated by deliberate delays and selective implementation of agreed terms.

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“The federal government is deliberately killing the future of our nation through its lip service to education. The slow pace and purposeful delays in concluding the renegotiation portend grave danger for our society,” Opata said.

The union further noted that its decision to suspend the recent warning strike was informed by goodwill from Nigerians, students, parents, and labour groups who appealed for dialogue.

However, the union expressed disappointment that the government had yet to show genuine commitment since talks resumed.

Opata disclosed that during the recent National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Taraba State, members rejected the government’s proposed salary review, describing it as “a mere drop in the ocean” and even lower than what was offered and rejected in 2022.

“It is either the government has lost its records or is deliberately buying time,” he said, warning that failure to conclude the renegotiation within the one month window granted could plunge the university system into another round of crisis.

The union also accused some government officials of misrepresenting facts about the ongoing negotiations and framing the payment of arrears and withheld deductions as major concessions.

ASUU maintained that only a radical review of lecturers’ welfare and investment in public universities could halt the growing brain drain in the education sector.

Citing revenue figures from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), Opata dismissed claims of limited funds, noting that both federal and state revenues have grown significantly between 2022 and 2024.

“It is not economic hardship but lack of political will that has stalled the renegotiation process,” he said.

He urged traditional rulers, labour unions, students, and civil society groups to pressure the government to do the right thing.

While expressing concern that lecturers’ salaries no longer meet basic needs, the union stated that a professor’s monthly pay cannot cover a return flight from Lagos to Abuja, and senior lecturers can barely fund their research publications.

“Our take-home can no longer take us home,” he added.

The ASUU Nsukka Zone, therefore, reiterated its call for the federal government to honour its commitments, warning that the continued neglect of tertiary education amounts to deliberate destruction of Nigeria’s future.