ASUU Benin Zone Threatens Industrial Action Over Failure to Implement 2025 Agreement

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Benin Zone has warned that it will take industrial action if the government continues to breach the collective bargaining and binding agreements signed by both parties.

The union made the warning at a press conference on Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Benin City.

The universities in the zone include the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Ambrose Alli University (AAU) in Ekpoma, Adekunle Ajasin University (AAUA) in Akungba, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology (OAUS) in Okitipupa, Delta State University (DELSU) in Abraka, Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE) in Effurun, University of Delta (UNIDEL) in Agbor, Dennis Osadebay University (DOU) in Asaba, and Southern Delta University (SDU) in Ozoro.

Prof. Monday Lewis Igbafen, the ASUU Zonal Coordinator, said that in 2025 the Federal Government of Nigeria and ASUU reached an agreement that was formally unveiled on January 14, 2026, by the Nigerian State.

Igbafen said the unveiling marked what the union believed would end years of struggle to renegotiate the 2009 Agreement and secure lasting industrial harmony in the nation’s public universities.

He alleged that federal university administrators are selectively and partially paying Consolidated Academic Allowances (EAA) and professorial allowances.

He noted that this violates the agreement, which directed that all allowances must be mainstreamed into the Consolidated University Academic Staff Salary as part of monthly salaries for professors.

Igbafen also accused state governors of refusing to comply with the agreement, stating that nearly five months after the Federal Government directed full implementation, many state governors who are visitors to state universities have refused to act.

The coordinator of the Benin zone specifically accused the governors of Edo, Delta and Ondo States, who are under the zone, of reneging on the agreement.

According to him, “we condemn the partial and non‑implementation of the salary component of the 2025 FGN/ASUU agreement. This is a recipe for an industrial crisis in our universities.”

“We berate the Edo, Ondo, and Delta State governments for failing to implement the agreement five months after the Federal Government’s directive. We urge them to comply immediately or face industrial action on their campuses.”

“The government remains insensitive to outstanding issues, unpaid arrears of the 25‑35 % salary award, promotion arrears, unremitted third‑party deductions, salary shortfalls from IPPIS errors, and the withheld three‑and‑a‑half months’ salaries from the 2022 strike,” he said.

While commending the management of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun (FUPRE), for the full implementation of the agreement, he lamented the non‑implementation by the University of Benin (UNIBEN).

The zone also condemned plans to discontinue certain academic programmes in Nigerian universities, describing the move as risky and capable of weakening the country’s higher education system.

Igbafen said that attempts to scrap courses deemed “irrelevant” undermine university autonomy and academic freedom and would be opposed.

“The government unilaterally announced plans to scrap courses deemed ‘irrelevant,’ a move that undermines universities’ autonomy and academic freedom and it would be rejected,” he added.

Other concerns of the zone include alleged policy inconsistencies in education. Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, announced a plan to reverse the mother‑tongue policy in early childhood education, which the union says undermines pedagogical evidence and national policy coherence.

Igbafen further condemned the federal government’s plan to establish a campus of Coventry University in Nigeria under the transnational education framework, which was made without consultation.

He contended that it is an aberration for the government to establish a campus of a university in the United Kingdom in Nigeria when over 140 publicly‑owned universities are underfunded.

He appealed to all lovers of Nigeria to persuade both federal and state governments to fully implement the agreement and resolve outstanding issues without further delay.

The Benin zone of ASUU warned that public universities face imminent paralysis if the government continues its old tactics of disrespecting collective bargaining and binding agreements.