The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Akure Zone, has threatened to embark on industrial action if the Ondo State Government fails to implement the financial components of the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU Agreement across its tertiary institutions.
The union accused the state government of failing to honour its obligations under the agreement, saying the delay had worsened the welfare of lecturers and affected the smooth operation of state-owned universities.
Addressing journalists at the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, on Friday, the ASUU Akure Zonal Coordinator, Adeola Egbedokun, said the government had yet to act despite being fully aware of the provisions of the agreement.
He noted that the union decided to alert students, parents, civil society groups and other stakeholders to what it described as the government's continued failure to fulfil its commitments.
According to Egbedokun, the 2025 agreement, the first comprehensive pact reached between the Federal Government and ASUU since the 2009 agreement, became financially effective on January 1, 2026.
He explained that the agreement provides for the payment of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance, Earned Academic Allowance and Professorial Allowance to improve lecturers' welfare and enhance teaching, learning and research.
The ASUU leader lamented that six months after the implementation date, lecturers in Ondo State-owned universities had yet to receive the approved benefits, while outstanding arrears continued to accumulate.
He criticised the state's decision to establish a committee to review an agreement that had already been concluded at the national level, insisting that what was required was immediate implementation rather than prolonged consultations.
Egbedokun argued that Ondo State, as one of Nigeria's leading oil-producing states and a beneficiary of the 13 per cent derivation fund, had sufficient resources to implement the agreement.
He added that neighbouring states, including Ekiti and Osun, had already begun taking steps towards implementing the agreement despite having fewer financial resources.
The union further alleged that the state had repeatedly delayed the implementation of nationally approved welfare packages for university lecturers, a situation it said had contributed to poor staff morale, brain drain and declining standards in higher education.
Egbedokun warned that the continued delay would negatively affect students, research output, institutional stability, accreditation exercises and the quality of graduates produced by state-owned universities.
He maintained that Ondo's three universities should be treated as strategic assets deserving sustained investment, stressing that education remained one of the most critical sectors requiring government attention.
ASUU demanded the immediate implementation of the 2025 agreement, payment of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance, Earned Academic Allowance and Professorial Allowance, as well as settlement of all outstanding arrears from January 1, 2026.
The union also urged the government to discontinue what it described as unnecessary bureaucratic procedures delaying implementation, warning that it would be compelled to explore all lawful trade union measures, including industrial action, if its demands were ignored.
It, however, expressed hope that the government would engage the union constructively, adding that any disruption to the academic calendar arising from a strike would be the responsibility of the Ondo State Government.
Responding, the Ondo State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, said the government had already initiated the process of implementing the agreement.
Ajibefun explained that although the agreement was signed between the Federal Government and ASUU, each state was expected to domesticate it before implementation.
He added that no state within the ASUU Akure Zone had fully implemented the agreement, insisting that Ondo had already taken proactive steps and would commence implementation in due course.
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