The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expressed deep frustration over what it described as the prolonged stagnation of Nigerian university lecturers, stating that its members have remained on the same salary structure for the past 15 years.
Speaking in Benin City, Edo State, the Benin Zone of the union said the Federal Government failed to utilise the one-month window given to conclude the lingering 2009 agreement—an action the union believes is pushing the system dangerously close to another nationwide strike. The Zonal Coordinator, Prof. Monday Igbafen, told journalists that members were now awaiting further directives from the national leadership.
Flanked by leaders of universities within the zone, Igbafen lamented that despite several meetings, the government has shown “a blatant unwillingness” to resolve the outstanding issues needed to restore stability to public universities. He explained that while progress may have been made on some non-monetary issues, the salary and conditions-of-service components remain unresolved, posing a major threat to industrial peace.
According to him, ASUU rejected the government’s proposed salary increment, describing it as “a mere drop in the ocean” that cannot address the brain drain ravaging the university system. He noted that lecturers still operate under the 2009 salary regime—a period when the naira traded at N120 to the dollar. He added that this outdated structure has not only devalued academic labour but pushed many scholars out of the country.
Igbafen described it as “scandalous” that a full professor in Nigeria earns less than $400 per month, calling the situation “wicked, inhuman, and a catalyst for resistance, industrial disharmony, and brain drain.” He said comments and actions from top government officials, including the Minister of Education, contradict the genuine commitment needed to resolve the crisis.
The union also challenged the Federal Government’s claims of limited resources, insisting that available data shows significant increases in both state and federal revenue. Igbafen referenced figures from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee indicating that states received N3.92 trillion in 2022, a figure that rose to N5.81 trillion in 2024. Similarly, the Federal Government’s revenue increased from N3.42 trillion in 2022 to N4.65 trillion in 2024—an over 70 percent rise.
Given these numbers, ASUU argued that the real obstacle is not economic difficulty but a lack of political will to finalise the negotiation. The Benin Zone declared its readiness for the National Executive Council’s directive, reaffirming that the union will resume its suspended strike once the one-month window elapses without meaningful progress.