Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities at Sokoto State University has issued a two-week ultimatum to the state government, warning that failure to implement a signed agreement on staff entitlements will trigger an industrial action that could ground academic activities indefinitely. The ultimatum, contained in a statement signed by the branch Chairman and Secretary, Dr. Bello Musa and Zulkallaini Shehu, respectively, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria in Sokoto on Wednesday, followed a congress meeting held on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, where members reviewed the government's latest commitments and resolved to take a stand.
The union's patience has been worn thin by a pattern of broken promises stretching back more than two years. According to the statement, the government had willingly signed an agreement with the union on March 4, 2024, capturing some of the demands now at the centre of the dispute. When the ASUU/FGN Agreement 2025 was introduced, those earlier issues were joined with the new demands, and another agreement was reached with the government through the Ministry of Higher Education on April 28, 2026. The government requested a two-month timeframe to settle all outstanding issues. At the expiration of that period, the government partially implemented the salary component of the agreement, a move the union applauded because it made Sokoto State University the first state university in the North-West to partially implement the salary component of the ASUU/FGN Agreement.
That partial implementation, however, was not enough. The union said other components of the agreement remained untouched, leaving its members with a growing list of unpaid entitlements. The demands now before the government include proper and complete implementation of the salary component of the ASUU/FGN Agreement 2025, payment of outstanding Earned Academic Allowance, remittance of outstanding third-party deductions, payment of arrears for the 25 to 35 per cent salary increment, and payment of accumulated promotion arrears. These are not new demands; they are promises the government has already made and failed to keep.
The government's latest effort to stave off the strike came on September 7, 2026, when officials of the Ministry of Higher Education met with ASUU representatives, led by the Commissioner for Higher Education, Prof. Isa Maishanu, and the Permanent Secretary, Ismaila Ibrahim Binji. The meeting was held as part of efforts to resolve concerns raised by academic staff and avert a possible strike in the state-owned universities, including Sokoto State University and Shehu Shagari University of Education. According to a statement by the ministry's Public Relations Officer, Ibrahim Iya, the parties discussed discrepancies in the implementation of the Consolidated University Academic Structure and the omission of some professional allowances. The ministry agreed to conduct a comprehensive review of the grievances and submit its findings and recommendations to Governor Ahmad Aliyu for consideration and approval.
Following that meeting, the government and the union reached an agreement that the union's demands would be settled within a two-week timeframe, with the ministry promising to communicate the demands to the Visitor, the Sokoto State Governor. But the union's members were not convinced. The statement noted that members raised serious concern about the offer, because this was not the first time the government had reneged on agreements with the union. The general public, the union reminded, may wish to recall that some of the demands were captured in an agreement willingly reached and signed with the government on March 4, 2024. The union has continued to remind the government of the need to respect that agreement and pay outstanding entitlements as promised, but to no avail.
The congress resolved to accept the new offer with a two-week timeframe, but attached a clear and unambiguous warning: failure to address the demands within the deadline would force the union to embark on an action that would disrupt all academic activities in the university, including statutory meetings involving its members. The union said it might embark on an indefinite strike in the state-owned university if its demands were not met. The resolve is firm, and the message is direct. The government has two weeks to deliver on its promises, or the university will grind to a halt.
The union has called on stakeholders and the people of Sokoto to prevail on the government to fulfil its promises in order to facilitate a sustainable and harmonious industrial working relationship in the university. It is a plea that places the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the state government and its officials. The ministry's statement said the meeting ended with both parties reaffirming their commitment to continued collaboration in the interest of industrial harmony and the advancement of education in Sokoto State. But for ASUU-SSU, the time for reaffirming commitments is over. The time for action is now.
This standoff is not an isolated incident. The Sokoto Zone of ASUU had previously warned of a looming industrial crisis across Nigeria's public universities over the failure to fully implement the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement, with delays creating tension across campuses. In July 2026, ASUU in Sokoto threatened a shutdown over unpaid allowances and the unimplemented agreement, warning that failure by state governments to clear outstanding welfare debts would trigger industrial crisis in affected universities. The warning was ignored, and the crisis has now reached a critical point. ASUU-SSU has made its position clear: the government must honour the agreement it signed, or face the consequences. The two-week clock is ticking, and the university community is watching.
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