By ENITAN ABEL JOHNGOLD ORHERUATA, mnipr
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members at Dennis Osadebay University (DOU), Asaba, on Tuesday joined a nationwide protest to press home their demands for the Federal Government to honour long-standing agreements with the union.
Led by the DOU ASUU Chairperson, Dr. Chuka Ebodili, the lecturers marched peacefully within the campus, carrying placards with inscriptions highlighting their grievances. They later addressed journalists, where Dr. Ebodili presented the national position of ASUU on behalf of the President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna.
Ebodili stressed that the protest was a coordinated action across all universities in Nigeria, warning that the Federal Government’s failure to resolve lingering issues could once again plunge the nation’s education sector into crisis.
He outlined ASUU’s unresolved demands, including:
- Re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement.
- Sustainable funding of public universities.
- Revitalization of existing institutions.
- Payment of outstanding salary arrears (25–35%).
- Implementation of long-overdue promotions spanning over four years.
- Remittance of withheld third-party deductions.
On the proposed Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund (TISSF), Ebodili dismissed it as a “poison chalice,” accusing government of attempting to lure lecturers into debt rather than addressing their legitimate entitlements. He insisted that funds earmarked for the loan scheme should instead be used to pay the 31 months of withheld salaries owed lecturers.
The union also criticized the Federal Government for what it described as the “scandalous proliferation” of new universities without adequately funding existing ones. According to ASUU, the practice undermines quality education and erodes Nigeria’s standing in global university rankings.
In addition, ASUU demanded better retirement benefits for professors and other university staff, lamenting that many senior academics who had served the nation for over four decades are forced to survive on meagre pensions amid rising inflation and harsh economic realities.
Ebodili further disclosed that the outcome of the Federal Government’s planned meeting on August 28, 2025, would determine the union’s next line of action. While noting that ASUU had refrained from strikes for over two years, he cautioned that the patience of lecturers had been stretched to the limit.
“Government has destroyed the trust of the union; it is now up to them to rebuild it. If urgent steps are not taken, ASUU may have no choice but to embark on industrial action,” Ebodili declared
