By failing to complete the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement, the Federal Government has been accused by
the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nsukka Zone, of purposefully harming the nation's future.
Speaking at a press conference at Benue State University, Comrade Christian Opata, an ASUU Zonal Coordinator, called the government's persistent inaction and delay in resolving long-standing problems in the education sector threats to the country's progress.
Speaking on behalf of eight local universities—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—Opata charged that government representatives were merely giving lip service to education.
He claimed that for more than ten years, ASUU had negotiated and signed multiple agreements with the government, but each attempt had been thwarted by purposeful delays and selective application of agreed provisions.
The union added that goodwill from Nigerians, students, parents, and labor organizations who called for communication influenced its decision to halt the most recent warning strike.
The union was disappointed, nevertheless, that since negotiations had resumed, the government had not yet demonstrated a sincere commitment.
According to Opata, members of the National Executive Council (NEC) recently met in Taraba State and rejected the government's planned wage revision, calling it "a mere drop in the ocean" and even less than what was suggested and turned down in 2022.
He warned that if the renegotiation is not completed within the allotted month, the university system may face yet another catastrophe. "It is either the government has lost its records or is deliberately buying time," he said.
Additionally, the union accused certain government officials of fabricating information regarding the current negotiations and portraying the payment of arrears and delayed deductions as significant concessions.
According to ASUU, the only way to stop the increasing brain drain in the education sector is to drastically evaluate the welfare of teachers and investment in public universities.
Opata refuted allegations of a lack of funding by citing revenue data from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), pointing out that both federal and state revenues increased dramatically between 2022 and 2024.
"The renegotiation process has stalled due to a lack of political will, not economic hardship," he stated.
He called on civil society organizations, labor unions, students, and traditional leaders to put pressure on the government to act morally.
A professor's monthly salary cannot cover a roundtrip ticket from Lagos to Abuja, and senior academics can hardly afford their research publications, the union said, expressing worry that lecturers' incomes no longer cover fundamental necessities.
He continued, "Our take-home can no longer take us home."
As a result, the ASUU Nsukka Zone reaffirmed its demand that the federal government fulfill its obligations, cautioning that the ongoing disregard for postsecondary education amounts to the willful destruction of Nigeria's future.
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