Lack of political will, not economic factors reason for 2009 agreements failure – ASUU, Benin zone

The Benin Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has attributed the failure of the Federal Government to implement its 2009 agreements with the body to a lack of political will rather than economic factors.

CW NEWS reports that the leadership of the zone stated this on Tuesday at a press conference in Benin City.

Prof Monday Lewis Igbafen, Zonal Coordinator, who briefed the press, urged the government to stand firm and resolve the unresolved issues once and for all within the time it still has at its disposal.

Igbafen opined that the “sing song” by the ovgernment about the paucity of funds or the global economic downturn was an excuse to deny the education sector adequate funding is no longer tenable considering the prevailing economic reality.

He urged the Federal Government to be serious for once to put the unresolved issues behind them by satisfactorily concluding the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and genuinely addressing other ancillary issues in contention.

The press conference was titled, “Time is running out! We cannot continue in an endless negotiation/renegotiation! Hold the Government responsible for another imminent round of paralysis in Nigeria’s public universities”.

According to him, you will recall our recent 2-week warning strike that was suspended to allow for further engagements between our Union and the Federal Government.

He said due to the interventions of stakeholders such as the students, parents, the media, the Nigeria Labour Congress and other well-meaning Nigerians, the National Executive Council of ASUU, in its emergency meeting on October 21, 2025, resolved to suspend the warning strike to reciprocate the overwhelming support of Nigerians.

He opined that the union believes that the one-month window was enough for the government to conclude the renegotiation that has been on for years now.

The zonal coordinator, however, added that it was regrettable and sad that the Federal Government has again demonstrated a blatant unwillingness to quickly and holistically resolve all the outstanding issues.

He posited that the resolutions of the 2009 agreements would help to restore the desired industrial harmony in the nation’s public universities, and in the overall interest of our students.

“While some gaps may have been closed in some non-monetary aspects of the Agreement, the salary and conditions of service components remain a sore point that needs a radical approach to stem the impending crisis in the system.

“We have rejected the proposed salary increment by the Government because it is a mere drop in the ocean that is incapable of achieving the desired reversal of the brain drain syndrome currently bedevilling university education in the country.

“We are saying that enough is enough with the back-and-forth approach of the Federal Government to the negotiation. This half-hearted approach must stop now. If we are talking with ASUU without results, we must stop.

“The most obvious implication of the refusal of the Government to conclude this negotiation is that university teachers in Nigeria have continued with the same salary regime of 2009 when the value of the naira to a dollar was N120, and this is even added to the fact that salaries in other sectors have since been reviewed upward twice or more.

“It is sad to note that what a professor at the bar earns in today’s Nigeria is less than $400 per month, which is a scandalous under-valuation of Nigerian scholars.

“To continue to remain on the same salary regime for more than 15 years without a meaningful review is not only wicked and inhuman but also a catalyst for resistance, industrial disharmony and brain drain”, he said.

Igbafen noted that the actions and pronouncements of Government functionaries, including the Minister of Education are antithetical to a genuine and speedy resolution of the issues.

The union alleged that the governments are deliberately undermining the negotiation process by their subtle misrepresentations of issues and agreements including the so-called government offers and their implementation.

He said the misrepresentations of issues are especially related to the part-payment of promotion arrears dating as far back as 2017, and the release of third-party deductions, which are a part of the members’ unpaid benefits for years.

He also accused the government of wickedly portraying the part-payment of promotion arrears and others as core or substantial issues, while at best, they are mere confidence-boosting exercises which should not be framed as the substantial issues of the negotiation process.

The former ASUU chairman, Edo State University, Ekpoma declared that like other Zones of the union across the country, the Benin Zone of ASUU is ready for the directive of the NEC of the union to resume the suspended strike action at the expiration of the given one-month window.

CW NEWS reports that members of the zone are the University of Benin, Benin City, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa.

Others are the Delta State University, Abraka, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, University of Delta, Agbor, Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba and Southern Delta University, Ozoro.