ASUU Slams Ondo Govt Over Strike, Threatens Escalation Over Unimplemented 2025 Pact

Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Benin Zone, has slammed the Ondo State Government over what it described as its “lukewarm” and insensitive handling of the implementation of the 2025 Federal Government of Nigeria/ASUU Agreement in the state’s three universities.

The affected institutions are Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA); Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa (OAUSTECH); and the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo (UNIMED).

Academic staff in the three universities, under the aegis of ASUU, have been on strike for more than 30 days over the failure of the state government to implement the agreement.

Despite the prolonged industrial action, the government has yet to take decisive steps towards resolving the dispute and ending the strike, leaving thousands of students at home.

The 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement was formally unveiled by the Federal Government on January 14, 2026, in what was seen as a major milestone in the prolonged efforts to renegotiate the 2009 Agreement and establish a framework for lasting industrial peace in Nigeria’s public universities.

However, ASUU’s Benin Zone said the development in Ondo State had become a source of serious concern, accusing the state government of failing to demonstrate the political will required to implement the agreement.

In a statement issued at Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, Delta State, and signed by the Zonal Coordinator of the Benin Zone of ASUU, Prof. Monday Lewis Igbafen, the union criticised the Ondo State Government for what it described as its “uncooperative attitude and seeming refusal to implement the 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement.”

The union also accused the government of “gross underfunding” of the three state-owned universities.

ASUU expressed grave concern over the continued refusal to implement the agreement, warning that the resulting industrial action was having a devastating impact on both academic staff and students.

The union noted that, while credible reports indicated that the Edo and Delta State Governments had approved the implementation of the 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement in their respective state universities from September 2026, alongside the payment of arrears from January 2026, the Ondo State Government was allegedly “foot-dragging” on the matter.

According to the union, the situation demonstrated a lack of sensitivity to the welfare of university workers and the plight of students who have remained at home because of the strike.

ASUU described the situation as “not merely regrettable” but “provocative and unjust,” arguing that academic staff in the three Ondo universities were being short-changed by the Governor and Visitor to the institutions.

The union maintained that the state government must provide the necessary financial backing to enable the universities to implement the agreement and meet their obligations to academic staff.

The Benin Zone consequently called on the Federal Government, particularly the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC), to intervene by calling the Ondo State Governor and Visitor to the three universities to order.

It also declared its full support for the ongoing strike at AAUA, OAUSTECH and UNIMED, warning that it could relocate its zonal secretariat to one of the affected universities in Ondo State as a show of solidarity and to ensure effective monitoring of the situation.

The union urged the Ondo State Government to demonstrate genuine commitment to the welfare of university workers and the education of students by making education a priority in the state.

The Benin Zone of ASUU comprises the University of Benin, Benin City; Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun; Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma; Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko; Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa; Delta State University, Abraka; University of Delta, Agbor; Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba; and Southern Delta University, Ozoro.