FG’s failure to implement the 2025 pact could spark a new university crisis, says ASUU

By Golok Nanmwa, jOS

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Jos branch, warned on Monday that the federal government’s failure to fully implement the December 2025 FGN/ASUU agreement could trigger a new wave of industrial action in public universities.

Speaking to journalists in Jos, branch chairman Prof. Jurbe Joseph Molwus expressed dissatisfaction with what he called the government’s weak commitment to the agreement.

The briefing followed a union congress at its secretariat and recent deliberations of ASUU’s National Executive Council held at Modibbo Adama University, Yola.

Molwus noted that the goodwill generated by the January 14, 2026 unveiling of the agreement had faded due to implementation delays, especially the failure to inaugurate the Implementation Monitoring Committee.

He said the implementation process has been uneven across federal and state universities, with institutions selectively paying components of the agreed allowances.

The affected allowances include the Consolidated Academic Tool Allowance, Earned Academic Allowance, Professorial Allowance and Responsibility Allowance.

“While some universities have implemented two or three of these allowances, others have not even started implementation,” he said, blaming inadequate funding from both federal and state governments.

The ASUU chairman also blamed some state governments for distancing themselves from the agreement, insisting they were part of the negotiation process.

He praised Sa’adu Zungur University, Gadau, and Ekiti State University for their leadership in implementing the agreement.

On research funding, Molwus criticised the federal government’s creation of the National Research and Innovation Development Fund without reference to the agreement.

He questioned the decision to denominate the fund in foreign currency, describing it as a strategy that could increase the country’s borrowing from multinational institutions, noting that funding sources had already been outlined in the 2025 agreement.

Molwus highlighted unresolved welfare issues affecting lecturers, including arrears of the 25/35 per cent wage award, promotion arrears, unremitted third‑party deductions, salary shortfalls arising from the IPPIS platform, and the three‑and‑a‑half months’ salaries withheld during the 2022 strike.

He argued that the withheld salaries were unjustifiable, noting that the academic work lost during the strike had since been recovered and students had completed their programmes.

The ASUU boss also criticised recent education sector policy decisions, including the reported reversal of the mother‑tongue policy for early childhood education, which he described as retrogressive.

He rejected moves to establish a campus of Coventry University in Nigeria under a transnational education arrangement, calling it a neo‑colonial initiative, and opposed proposals to scrap certain social science and humanities courses, insisting that all academic programmes have value.

Linking the dispute to broader national challenges, Molwus said Nigeria was grappling with worsening insecurity, economic hardship and political tension ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He cited figures indicating that over 133 million Nigerians are living in poverty, adding that insecurity has significantly affected farming and small‑scale businesses across the country.

The union called on relevant stakeholders, including government authorities and the media, to press both federal and state governments to fully implement the 2025 agreement and address all outstanding issues.

Molwus warned that continued neglect of lecturers’ welfare could lead to a build‑up of frustration within the system.

According to him, “the seeming insensitivity to the welfare of our members is brewing pent‑up anger that may result in another round of industrial unrest if not urgently addressed.”

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