The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Abuja Zone, has urged the Federal Government to implement the 2009 agreement and to release three-and-a-half months of withheld salaries to head off industrial action, with the Zonal Coordinator, Prof. Al-Amin Abdullahi, warning that the situation threatens the wider university system.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, Prof. Abdullahi declared: “There is a crisis that is affecting universities in Nigeria, and it is not just a problem for ASUU; it is a problem for the entire country,” and set out the union’s demands, including promotion arrears, the unconditional release of withheld salaries, and payment of outstanding salary awards.
He painted a bleak picture of infrastructure decline and chronic underfunding – “Overcrowded classrooms, laboratories that are inadequately equipped, and hostel amenities that are uninhabitable” – and argued that the nation’s future depends on revitalising public universities and restoring autonomy and academic freedom.
ASUU Abuja Zone warned that, despite a two-year period of dialogue, the union will not abandon its core demands and called on both federal and state governments to increase annual budgetary allocations for education in line with UNESCO conventions.
Prof. Abdullahi reiterated the union’s commitment to negotiation but insisted that unresolved items in the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement – including the adoption of a new condition of service and the revitalisation of universities – must be implemented to prevent a breakdown that would harm generations to come.
