Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
AKURE, Nigeria — The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Akure Zone, has issued a stern warning to the Ondo State Government, threatening to shut down academic activities across all state-owned tertiary institutions if the government continues to delay the implementation of the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU Agreement, which took financial effect from January 1, 2026.
Addressing a news conference at the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo, on Thursday, July 2, 2026, the Zonal Coordinator, Adeola Egbedokun, said the state government had failed to fulfil its obligations under the agreement despite being fully aware of its provisions. He warned that the continued delay could trigger industrial action across the state's tertiary institutions.
Egbedokun explained that the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU Agreement, which was signed on December 23, 2025, provides for the payment of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA), Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) and Professorial Allowance to improve lecturers' welfare and promote excellence in teaching and research. He lamented that six months after the implementation date, lecturers in Ondo State-owned tertiary institutions were yet to receive the approved allowances, while arrears continued to accumulate.
The union strongly condemned the state government's decision to constitute a committee to review an agreement already negotiated and approved nationally, insisting that such a process was unnecessary since representatives of state-owned universities participated in the negotiations that produced the pact. "What is required is implementation, not prolonged committee engagements that merely postpone government action while lecturers continue to suffer the consequences," Egbedokun said.
Egbedokun noted that Ondo, being a leading oil-producing state in the South-West and a beneficiary of the 13 per cent derivation fund, should have been among the first states to comply with the agreement. He argued that the state government possesses the authority, responsibility, and financial capacity to implement the agreement. "There is no justification for the delay," he declared.
The union also accused the government of maintaining a long-standing pattern of delaying nationally approved welfare packages for university lecturers, warning that the delays had weakened staff morale, encouraged brain drain, and threatened the quality of higher education. "The consequences of this persistent delay extend beyond the welfare of lecturers. They directly affect students, research productivity, institutional stability, accreditation outcomes and the overall quality of graduates produced by our institutions," Egbedokun added.
ASUU demanded the immediate implementation of the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement across all state-owned tertiary institutions, payment of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance, Earned Academic Allowance and Professorial Allowance, as well as the clearance of all arrears dating back to January 1, 2026. The union also urged the government to discontinue what it described as unnecessary bureaucratic processes and committee-induced delays.
"Failure to act with the urgency demanded by this situation will leave ASUU with no option but to activate all lawful and legitimate actions available within the framework of a trade union to press home its demands," Egbedokun warned.
Responding on behalf of the government, the Ondo State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, said the government had already commenced steps towards implementing the agreement and assured lecturers that the necessary action would be taken soon. However, he noted that Ondo was not the only state yet to implement the agreement, adding that none of the states within the ASUU Akure Zone had fully implemented it.
The controversy is part of a broader national dispute, with ASUU's Benin Zone also threatening an indefinite strike across universities in Edo, Delta, and Ondo states if the affected state governments fail to implement the agreement by the end of July. The union said all federal universities and 10 state universities nationwide have fully implemented the agreement, including the payment of arrears.
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