The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Akure Zone, has accused the Federal Government of misrepresenting the status of its negotiations with the union and described newly established universities as “crises centres.”
Speaking during a press briefing at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, on Thursday, the ASUU Akure Zonal Coordinator, Prof. Adeola Egbedokun, criticised the Federal Government for approving new universities despite announcing a seven-year moratorium on the establishment of federal tertiary institutions.
The moratorium, approved by the Federal Executive Council after a presentation by the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu Alausa, was intended to halt the proliferation of under-funded institutions and allow government to address overstretched resources and declining academic standards.
However, Egbedokun noted that nine new universities, including one in Epe, had received approval in defiance of the freeze.
He said, “It was agreed that for seven years, no license will be granted to any university again, but we all saw what happened a few days ago when we heard that a new university was granted a license. Let your yes be yes and no be no. Is seven years the same thing as seven days?”
Flanked by ASUU chairmen from the seven branches in the Akure Zone, he lamented that existing universities remain poorly funded while the government continues to approve new ones, further stretching limited resources.
Reviewing the state of negotiations since ASUU suspended its warning strike, Egbedokun said the National Executive Council had rejected the Federal Government’s proposed salary adjustment, describing the 35 per cent increase as “tokenistic and insulting.”
He argued that the offer would neither halt the exodus of academics nor restore dignity to the profession. “The critical issues of salary and conditions of service remain unresolved and demand decisive and courageous intervention,” he said.
Egbedokun also criticised government officials for “undermining tactics” and “distorting facts” regarding negotiation progress. He warned that piecemeal payments of promotion arrears dating back to 2017 and delayed third-party deductions owed to members cannot be presented as meaningful achievements.
With less than one month left in the window given to the Federal Government to act, he urged authorities to “act with clarity, commitment, and integrity to reach a comprehensive and lasting resolution,” insisting that nothing short of “a fair and respectable living wage for Nigerian academics is acceptable.”
He restated ASUU’s demands, including completion of the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FG Agreement, payment of outstanding 25/35 per cent salary arrears, settlement of promotion arrears, release of unremitted third-party deductions, and sustainable funding of universities. He warned that failure to respond could spark renewed industrial unrest.
ASUU leaders present at the briefing included Prof. Anthony Odiwe (OAU), Prof. Bamidele Mogaji (FUTA), Prof. Sola Afolayan (EKSU), Dr. Abraham Oladebeye (UNIMED), Dr. Abayomi Fagbuagun (FUOYE), Dr. Babatope Ogundare (BOUESTI), and Dr. Bosun Ajisafe (Adeyemi Federal University of Education, Ondo).
Responding to the controversy, the Federal Ministry of Education clarified that presidential approval for the Federal University of Science and Technology, Epe, had been granted before the moratorium was enacted. Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, stated that President Bola Tinubu approved the universities in Epe, Kachia, and Ogoniland through an Executive Memo issued prior to the FEC’s decision.
