ASUU SLAMS ONDO STATE GOVERNMENT OVER NON-IMPLEMENTATION OF 2025 FGN–ASUU AGREEMENT

 ACADEMIC STAFF UNION OF UNIVERSITIES

(ASUU) AKURE ZONE

TEXT OF PRESS CONFERENCE HELD ON 1ST JULY 2026 AT UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, ONDO

 

ASUU CONDEMNS ONDO STATE GOVERNMENT'S CONTINUED FAILURE TO IMPLEMENT THE 2025 FGN–ASUU AGREEMENT

 

Gentlemen of Press,

ASUU wishes to bring to your notice the continued failure of the Ondo State Government to implement the provisions of the 2025 FGN–ASUU Agreement. Regrettably, despite receiving the agreement and being fully apprised of its obligations thereunder, the Ondo State Government has continued to actively ignore its provisions. This persistent inaction has adversely affected the welfare of our members and continues to undermine the effective functioning of the state-owned university systems. It is against this backdrop that ASUU considers it necessary to inform ALL Comrades, Stakeholders in the Education Sector, Parents, Students, Civil Society Organizations, and the General Public of Ondo State Government's continued failure to honourits obligations and to call for the immediate and faithful implementation of the 2025 agreement, in the interest of the University community and the advancement of quality higher education in Ondo State.

 

The 2025 FGN–ASUU Agreement occupies a significant place in the history of university education in Nigeria. It is the first major agreement reached between the Federal Government of Nigeria and ASUU since the historic 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement. Coming 16 years after the last comprehensive agreement, the 2025 Agreement was expected to usher in renewed hope for lecturers and strengthen universities' capacity to fulfil their mandates for teaching, research, and community service.

 

The financial components of the Agreement took effect on January 1, 2026. The key financial provisions include:

1. Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA);

2. Earned Academic Allowance (EAA); and

3. Professorial Allowance.

 

These provisions were carefully negotiated to improve staff welfare, encourage academic productivity and excellence in research, and enhance the quality of university education across the country. Regrettably, six months after the effective date of implementation, the Ondo State Government has failed to adopt and implement these provisions for academic staff in the state-owned tertiary institutions. Consequently, lecturers have continued to bear the burden of denied entitlements while arrears continue to accumulate.

 

It is important to state that state governments possess the authority, responsibility, and financial capacity to adopt and implement the agreement. The resources required for this implementation are derived from our commonwealth and are intended to support the development of critical sectors such as education. There is therefore no justifiable reason for any state government (especially Ondo State) to delay the implementation of a nationally negotiated welfare package aimed at strengthening higher education.

 

Ondo State is the 5th largest oil-producing state in Nigeria, sitting right behind the primary Niger Delta oil hubs (Akwa-Ibom, Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa), and is officially recognized asone of the nine Niger Delta State by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The state has consistently benefited from 13% derivation fund and other federal allocations associated with its status as an oil-producing state. Ordinarily, such a privileged position should translate into enviable funding of education and staff welfare. With its ranking among Nigeria's oil-producing states and its undisputed position as the foremost oil-producing state in the South-West, one would reasonably expect Ondo State to be among the first states to spontaneously adopt and implement the 2025 FGN–ASUU Agreement. Instead, Ondo State has once again demonstrated a cold disposition towards this agreement. While neighbouring non-oil-producing states such as Ekiti State and Osun State have taken commendable steps towards implementing the 2025 FGN–ASUU Agreement, Ondo State continues to lag behind despite possessing significantly greater resource advantages. More disturbing is the constitution of a committee to review the already approved 2025 FG-ASUU Agreement.

 

ASUU wishes to unequivocally state that the issue at stake does not require endless deliberations, repeated consultations, or bureaucratic bottlenecks. The 2025 FGN–ASUU Agreement already exists. Its financial components are clearly defined. Its effective date is already established. What is required is implementation—not prolonged committee engagements that merely postpone government action while lecturers continue to suffer the consequences.

 

More troubling is the fact that this delay is not an isolated occurrence. The Ondo State Government has, over the years, developed an unfortunate reputation for delayed implementation of nationally approved welfare packages and agreements affecting university lecturers. Time and again, academic staff have had to endure prolonged waiting periods before benefiting from entitlements already approved at the national level. This recurring pattern has created avoidable industrial tensions, diminished staff morale, and weakened confidence in the government's commitment to 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. At a time when universities worldwide are competing to attract and retain the best academic talent, policies characterized by delays and neglect only encourage brain drain and undermine institutional excellence. Ondo State ought to be a destination that attracts and retains the nation's finest intellectuals, where the best minds would aspire to work rather than leave. Regrettably, the reality is exact opposite, as many highly skilled academics are compelled to seek better opportunities elsewhere due to unfavourable working conditions and inadequate support for the university system.

 

Education remains the most strategic investment any government can make. No society develops beyond the quality of its educational system, and no educational system can rise above the commitment shown to those who sustain it. Having three state-owned universities - University of Medical Sciences, Ondo (the first medical university in Nigeria), Adekunle AjasinUniversity, Akungba-Akoko and Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okiti-pupa is a blessing, not a curse. It is an answer to ancestral cravings for excellence.

 

Furthermore, the implementation delay has now lasted six months. The financial obligations that should have been discharged from January 1, 2026, have accumulated into substantial arrears. Experience has consistently shown that delayed implementation transforms manageable obligations into enormous liabilities that become increasingly difficult to liquidate. The longer the government delays, the greater the financial burden it ultimately creates for itself.

 

ASUU cannot continue to watch while legitimate entitlements are withheld and the future of tertiary education is compromised.

 

Accordingly, ASUU calls on the Ondo State Government to:

1. Immediately ADOPT and IMPLEMENT the 2025 FGN–ASUU Agreement in all state-owned tertiary institutions;

2. Commence without delay the payment of all financial components of the Agreement, including CATA, EAA, and Professorial Allowance;

3. Effect a one-time payment and clearance of all arrears that have accumulated since January 1, 2026; and

4. Discontinue all unnecessary bureaucratic processes and committee-based delay tactics that serve only to postpone implementation.

 

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 drive home its demands. 

 

We sincerely hope that the government will choose the path of responsibility, dialogue, and prompt action. However, should the current neglect persist, responsibility for any industrial action and the consequences that may follow shall rest squarely on the shoulders of the Ondo State Government.

 

The future of higher education in Ondo State is too important to be sacrificed on the altar of administrative delay, committee-induced procrastination, and policy indifference.

 

Thank you.

 

In solidarity always!

 

 

 

 

Comrade Adeola O. Egbedokun

Zonal Coordinator

 

 

 

Comrade Anthony I. Odiwe

Chairperson, OAU

 

 

 

Comrade Pius B. Mogaji

Chairperson, FUTA

 

 

 

Comrade Sola Afolayan

Chairperson, EKSU

 

Comrade Abayomi Fagbuagun

Chairperson, FUOye

 

 

 

Comrade Abraham O. Oladebeye

Chairperson, UNIMEDO

 

 

 

Comrade Babatope Ogundare

Chairperson, BOUESTI

 

 

 

Comrade Olatunbosun Ajisafe

Chairperson, AFUED