The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in the Sokoto Zone has issued a stark warning about a potential new wave of industrial action across Nigeria’s public universities. The union attributes this looming crisis to the federal government’s persistent failure to honour agreements it signed with the academic body.
During a press briefing held in Sokoto on Thursday, the union’s Zonal Coordinator, Abubakar Sabo, voiced deep frustration over the slow pace of implementing the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement. He noted that while the pact was officially endorsed in January 2026, the government has yet to set up the Implementation Monitoring Committee required to oversee its rollout. This delay, Sabo argued, is sowing seeds of discontent and unsettling the academic environment.
“If these issues are not tackled urgently, we risk plunging the university system into an avoidable labour conflict,” Sabo warned. He highlighted that many universities have not adopted the agreed 40% salary increase tied to allowances such as Consolidated Academic Tool Allowances (CATA), Earned Academic Allowances, and Professorial Allowances.
The list of unresolved grievances is extensive. According to ASUU, lecturers are still waiting for arrears linked to the 25–35% salary award, promotion backlogs, salary shortfalls from the IPPIS payment platform, withheld wages from the 2022 strike, and unpaid pensions for retired academics. State-owned universities are not exempt either; the union pointed to unpaid allowances, failure to remit deductions or union dues, missing annual increments, and the absence of governing councils in several institutions.
Beyond bread-and-butter issues, ASUU expressed alarm at the federal government’s plan to establish a Nigerian campus of Coventry University under the Transnational Education framework. The union fears this move could undermine local universities. Additionally, it strongly opposed proposals to phase out certain humanities and social science courses, insisting every discipline plays a vital role in national growth.
The union also raised the alarm over rising insecurity across Northern Nigeria, noting that banditry, kidnapping, and communal clashes are disrupting academic activities in numerous institutions. ASUU called on both federal and state authorities to tackle insecurity, poverty, and joblessness, while reiterating the demand for full implementation of all agreements to prevent further turmoil in the education sector.