By ENITAN ABEL JOHNGOLD ORHERUATA, mnipr
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members of Dennis Osadebay University (DOU), Asaba, on Tuesday, staged a peaceful protest, joining their counterparts across the country in demanding the Federal Government’s immediate implementation of long-standing agreements with the union.
The lecturers, led by the DOU ASUU Chairperson, Dr. Chuka Ebodili, marched within the university premises carrying placards with inscriptions outlining their demands. After the march, they addressed a press conference where Dr. Ebodili read the national body’s position on behalf of ASUU President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna.
Ebodili said the protest was a coordinated action across all Nigerian universities, warning that government’s continued neglect of critical issues could plunge the education sector into another crisis.
He listed ASUU’s unresolved demands to include: re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, sustainable university funding, revitalization of public universities, payment of withheld salary arrears, implementation of promotions pending for over four years, and remittance of outstanding third-party deductions.
On the proposed Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund (TISSF), Ebodili described it as a “poison chalice,” accusing government of attempting to push lecturers into debt traps rather than meeting its obligations. He urged members to shun the loan scheme and insisted that funds earmarked for it should instead be used to offset the 31 months of withheld salaries.
The union also condemned what it called the “scandalous proliferation” of new universities without adequate funding for existing ones, arguing that the trend undermines quality education and global rankings of Nigerian institutions.
ASUU further demanded improved retirement benefits for professors and other university staff, lamenting that senior academics who had served for over four decades were now forced to survive on meagre pensions amidst rising inflation and economic hardship.
According to Ebodili, the outcome of the Federal Government’s planned meeting on August 28, 2025, will determine ASUU’s next line of action. He cautioned that while the union had avoided strikes for over two years, patience was running thin.
“Government has destroyed the trust of the union; it is now up to them to regain it. If urgent steps are not taken, ASUU may have no other option than to embark on industrial action,” he warned.