The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Tuesday staged coordinated protests across campuses nationwide to press home long-standing demands from the Federal Government, two days before a crucial meeting scheduled for Thursday in Abuja.

From Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, to Federal University of Lafia, University of Ilorin, University of Calabar, Abia State University, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Federal University of Technology Akure, Plateau State University, University of Maiduguri, and Osun State University, lecturers marched with placards, chanting solidarity songs and warning of an imminent strike if government continued to ignore their plight.

Across the campuses, the demands remained consistent: implementation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, release of three and a half months withheld salaries, payment of outstanding 25–35 per cent salary arrears, promotion arrears, revitalisation of universities, rejection of the government’s proposed tertiary institution staff loan scheme, and adoption of UTAS over IPPIS to preserve university autonomy.

At OAU, ASUU Chairperson, Prof. Tony Odiwe, said lecturers had remained on the same salary scale since 2009 and accused the government of deliberately stalling on the report of the Yayale Ahmed renegotiation committee submitted in February 2025.

He warned that the government would be held responsible if industrial peace on campuses collapsed.

Similarly, ASUU’s Akure Zonal Coordinator, Prof. Adeola Egbedokun, declared at FUOYE that patience among academics had reached a breaking point.

“Our members teach on empty stomachs, live in debt, and can no longer afford basic needs. If the government chooses provocation over responsibility, then it alone must bear the consequences,” he said.

In Lafia, ASUU Branch Chairperson, Sunday Orinya, accused the government of deceit and neglect, lamenting the deaths of lecturers due to pauperisation and hardship. He reiterated demands for withheld salaries, promotion arrears, and proper funding of universities.

At Plateau State University, ASUU members were joined by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Shedrack Best, and the National President, Prof. Chris Piwuna.

They decried poor salaries, non-payment of allowances, and enforcement of IPPIS, warning that the autonomy of universities was under siege.

In Sokoto, protests drew members from three universities, with UDUS Chairman, Prof. Nurudeen Almustapha, demanding immediate implementation of the Yayale Ahmed report and describing the government’s loan scheme as a “poisoned chalice.”

At UNILORIN, protesters carried placards reading “University workers are not slaves” and “Honour your agreement with ASUU.”

Branch Chair, Dr. Alex Akanmu, said Nigeria’s refusal to implement its own agreements had further pauperised lecturers and left the university system near collapse.

In Akure, FUTA ASUU Chair, Prof. Pius Mogaji, condemned the government’s “reckless indifference” to the Yayale Ahmed report and warned that “all options remain on the table.”

At UNICAL, Branch Chairperson, Peter Ubi, accused the government of destroying trust and pushing members into debt, while in Maiduguri, ASUU members protested poor retirement benefits, unpaid arrears, and the renaming of the institution after former President Muhammadu Buhari without consultation.

In Umuahia, Abia State University lecturers carried placards rejecting the government loan scheme and lamenting unpaid salaries.

At UNIOSUN, Chairperson, Dr. Wende Olaosebikan, criticised non-payment of salary increments and alleged victimisation of lecturers.

Across the campuses, the lecturers warned that if the Federal Government failed to act decisively at Thursday’s meeting, the fragile calm on campuses would give way to another nationwide strike.

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No fewer than 239 first-class graduates of the University of Lagos, employed as lecturers, left the institution within seven years.

Immediate past Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, disclosed this on Tuesday while speaking as guest lecturer at The PUNCH Forum, themed: “Innovative Funding of Functional Education in the Digital Age,”

Reeling out statistics, Ogundipe said UNILAG retained 256 first-class graduates as lecturers between 2015 and 2022, but only 17 remained in the institution’s employ as of October 2023.

He attributed the mass exodus to poor remuneration, unconducive working conditions, and low motivation among lecturers.

Ogundipe said, “At UNILAG, we decided that those with first-class honours should be employed. What is remaining is not up to 10 per cent. All of them have gone. One day, I asked the man in charge to give me this information.

“In 2015, 86 were employed; in 2016, 82; during my time, that is, 2017 to 2022, 88 were employed. As of October 2023, only 17 were on the ground. They have gone. Very soon, in the next 10 years, you will have only females in the universities if something is not done.”

He noted that unless the government adequately funds the sector, universities would, in the next decade, be dominated by women, while poorly prepared candidates would gain entry into postgraduate programmes.

“Many of us are tired. By the time you get home, there is no light, and the Federal Government is saying they are giving us N10m to access as loans. You can see how our lives have been devalued. Can I use N10m to build a security post?

“How do you encourage them? Many of our colleagues, especially the young ones, are tired. The unfortunate thing is that two things will happen in the universities soon. Women will be the ones to occupy universities, like we have in secondary schools. Second, the calibre of people who will come for postgraduate studies will be people who are not supposed to come,” he added.

Ogundipe lamented chronic underfunding of the education sector, noting that both federal and state allocations had consistently remained below 10 per cent, far short of UNESCO’s recommended 15 to 26 per cent.

He urged legislators to enact a law mandating that each first-generation university receive at least N1bn annually to address decayed infrastructure.

According to him, many universities are forced to rely on Internally Generated Revenue, which ought to be channelled into research.

Ogundipe, who is also Pro-Chancellor of Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, lamented that infrastructure, technology, teachers’ remuneration, research support, and digital facilities in universities were either overstretched or completely absent.

“In the period from 2015 to 2025, Nigeria’s education sector has faced tremendous fiscal restraint. Federal budget allocations — even after headline increases in absolute naira terms — have consistently remained below 10 per cent, and most years hover between 4.5 and 7.5 per cent.

“The consequences of chronic underfunding are immediate and profound: Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children worldwide, estimated at between 10 and 22 million. Over 60 per cent of primary education funding is absorbed by teacher salaries, often with little left for capital expenditure or innovation,” he said.

Ogundipe advocated innovative funding strategies beyond government allocations, including public-private partnerships, alumni endowments, philanthropy, education bonds, optimising digital platforms, and linking funding to measurable outcomes.

He said, “UNESCO positions innovative financing as a critical tool for bridging the nearly $100bn annual financing gap impeding educational attainment in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

“Innovative mechanisms for education include shared risk/reward models for infrastructure, investors repaid only if outcomes are achieved, risk capital to support EdTech and innovative schools, leveraging the Nigerian diaspora for targeted investments, debt swaps for education, education technology grants, corporate donations, and capacity-building linked to business and reputation.”

While urging state and Federal Governments to raise allocations, he also identified critical roles for the private sector, alumni, civil society, faith-based organisations, and donor agencies.

“The private sector should see education support not just as social responsibility but as enlightened self-interest in building the workforce, the talent, and the markets of tomorrow. Invest not only in infrastructure, but in people, curricula, and research that advance national development.

“To alumni, home and abroad, remember that the institutions that made you now need you. Give, mentor, endow, advise, and advocate for your alma mater and the next generation.

“To civil society and faith-based groups, continue to be the vanguards of inclusion, equity, and grassroots school transformation. To the Nigerian media, lead the narrative, demand reforms, report boldly and analytically, and make education funding a national priority.

“To international and donor agencies, partner with us, but let us increasingly build our domestic resource mobilisation and institutional resilience. Above all, to every Nigerian, let us see education as the most sacred trust we must pass to our children. Our fingerprints, our footprints, our names should be found in the library buildings, the digital labs, the scholarships, and the lives changed,” Ogundipe said.

PUNCH management staff at the forum included Executive Director, Business Development and Innovation, Mrs Valerie Omowunmi Tunde-Obe; Chairman, Editorial Board, Mr Obafemi Obadare; General Manager, Production, Mr Olayinka Popoola; and Manager, Advertisement, Mrs Mary Ubani.

Also in attendance were the Editor, PUNCH Digital, Mr Lekan Adetayo; Deputy Editor, The PUNCH, Mr Tana Aiyejina; Associate Editor, News, Dr Ramon Oladimeji; and Head of Training, PUNCH Media Foundation, Mr Dele Aina.

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The Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Lagos chapter, has dismissed the Federal Government’s proposed loan scheme for university lecturers, describing it as a “Greek gift” and that its members are not interested in accepting.

This was made public by the union during a special congress held on Tuesday, where members also reaffirmed their support for the actions and strategies of the union’s national leadership in pressing for their demands.

The union also voted to support all the steps and actions being proposed by the national leadership to ensure the demands of the union are met.

Addressing members who marched through the campus from the Main Gate, the Branch Chairman, Prof. Idowu Kehinde, said if the FG fulfils its promise of giving lecturers their dues, there would not be any need for members to run after any loan.

“The loans are to be guaranteed by our union. This is not necessary; the Governing Council of each university can give loans to our members based on our conditions of service. If we are paid a living wage and if all our allowances are paid as expected, who would want to go borrowing money? Let them do the needful, and we are okay,” he said.