The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned Nigerians to hold the Federal Government responsible for the imminent paralysis that will hit universities across the country in the coming days.

The Benin Zone of ASUU issued the warning on Monday during a press conference at Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba, Delta State.

Speaking on behalf of ASUU chairmen from universities under the zone, the Zonal Coordinator, Monday Igbafen, lamented that scholars remain the most marginalised group in Nigeria.

“We want to tell Nigerians not to hold ASUU responsible, but hold the Federal Government responsible for the paralysis that will be done to Nigerian universities in few days to come,” Igbafen said.

He listed the institutions under the Benin Zone to include University of Benin, Ambrose Alli University, Adekunle Ajasin University, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Delta State University, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, University of Delta, Dennis Osadebay University, and Southern Delta University.

ASUU blamed FG over neglect

According to him, the Federal Government has shown a deliberate unwillingness to resolve long-standing issues. He noted that since ASUU suspended its last strike in October 2022, government has failed to honour its promises, including signing the renegotiated 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement, reviewing poor conditions of service, and adequately funding the nation’s universities.

“The satisfactory and conclusive renegotiation of the Agreement and its successful implementation is the only desirable solution to the worsening living and working conditions of staff, the pandemic problem of underfunding and other challenges of university governance in Nigeria,” he stated.

Igbafen also criticised government’s refusal to clear arrears of promotion entitlements, release withheld three and a half months’ salaries and third-party deductions, and address the abysmally poor salary structure that lecturers have endured for 16 years.

He stressed that the rising cost of living has worsened the plight of lecturers, while government officials send their children abroad to study, leaving the local system to decay.

“It is unimaginable that, in the face of the daily exponential increases in the cost of basic services and goods in Nigeria, university lecturers have been abandoned to grapple with the harsh realities of an abysmally poor salary structure,” he said.

ASUU further appealed to students, parents, civil society groups, the press, labour unions, and stakeholders to pressure government into honouring agreements and saving the educational sector from further collapse.

The union insisted that strike action is never its delight, but has become the last resort due to government’s insincerity and neglect of the system.