Demands signing of 2009 agreement, payment of arrears, revitalisation funds
University lecturers across Nigeria on Tuesday staged peaceful protests, warning that the nation’s public universities may soon face another total shutdown if the Federal Government fails to meet their long-standing demands.
At the University of Lagos, members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) marched from the main gate to the Senate building, brandishing placards that read: “Lecturers too want earthly rewards for teaching” and “Neglect of university education is a pact with underdevelopment.”
Branch chairman, Professor Idou Keinde, accused the government of deliberate neglect, saying its refusal to address ASUU’s grievances was pushing the union towards another strike.
He listed unresolved issues, including the conclusion of the 2009 agreement renegotiation, revitalisation funds, unpaid salaries and unremitted deductions.
In Bauchi, ASUU members at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) marched from the PTDF Centre to the university gate in protest.
Branch chairperson, Dr Angulu Haruna, said lecturers were “tired of government deception,” stressing that their withheld three and a half months’ salaries and four years of promotion arrears must be paid.
He rejected attempts to tie the union to the Tertiary Institutions Students Support Fund (TISSF) loan scheme, describing it as a ploy to “consign academics into debt” while ignoring the real issue of sustainable university funding.
“We demand improved pay, not poison disguised as loans,” he declared.
In Niger State, ASUU members of the Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUT Minna), joined the demonstrations.
Branch chairman, Professor Lukman Oyewobi, said the protest was to alert Nigerians to government’s “deliberate negligence.”
He lamented that Nigerian professors are among the lowest paid in Africa, with some earning less than $350 monthly.
According to him, government’s delay tactics and breaches of international labour standards were destabilising campuses and undermining the future of higher education.
“We cannot continue with a system that mocks knowledge and punishes scholarship,” he said.
In Akure, the Federal University of Technology (FUTA) ASUU branch accused government of betraying trust.
Branch chairman, Professor Pius Mogaji, said the report of the Yayale Ahmed-led renegotiation panel, submitted since February, had been ignored for over five months.
He warned that if nothing concrete comes out of the scheduled August 28 meeting with government, ASUU would have no option, but to go on strike.
“Trust has been shattered. Restore it now or brace for the inevitable,” he told newsmen.
Mogaji also criticised the approval of nine new private universities despite an earlier moratorium on new institutions, calling it “reckless proliferation” that reduces education to political souvenirs.
He added that retired lecturers, some of whom earn as little as N150,000 monthly after decades of service, were being treated with shameful neglect.
In Oyo State, ASUU members at the University of Ibadan (UI) and Emmanuel Alayande University of Education (EAUE), held rallies to sensitise the public.
The University of Ibadan chapter chairman, Dr Adefemi Afolabi, lamented poor welfare and brain drain in the system, urging Nigerians to pressurise government to sign the renegotiated agreement by August 28.
The chairman of EAUE branch, Dr Michael Ojo, accused the government of applying delay tactics.
“We can no longer allow our welfare to be subjected to endless excuses,” he said, warning that industrial action may be unavoidable.
The Oyo State NLC chairman, Comrade Kayode Martins, who joined the UI rally, said lecturers were “those who lay the golden eggs” and must be preserved.
He condemned a system where professors earn less while politicians demand higher allowances.
In Lokoja, the Federal University ASUU branch also joined the protests.
Branch chairman, Dr Jangfa Timothy, said lecturers had waited too long for government to fulfill its promises.
He warned that if the August 28 meeting produced no meaningful outcome, the union would withdraw its services.
Timothy noted that university staff are overstretched by rising student numbers and worsening working conditions. “We are worried and bitter about Federal Government’s insincerity.
“All we demand is payment of withheld salaries, revitalisation of universities, and signing of the 2009 agreement,” he said.
Across campuses, students watched the protests with mixed feelings.
While some expressed solidarity with their lecturers, others feared another disruption of the academic calendar.
In Lokoja, final-year students even used the protest day to mark their “final year week.”
With the August 28 meeting fast approaching, ASUU leaders across the country have spoken with one voice: government must act decisively or prepare for the consequences of another nationwide strike.
