University Lecturers Protest Nationwide Over Unpaid Salaries And Poor Funding

University lecturers across Nigeria have launched coordinated protests on campuses, grounding academic activities and heightening fears of another long strike in the country’s public universities.

The protests, staged simultaneously in several states, saw members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) march through campus gates and major roads with placards demanding payment of withheld salaries, earned allowances, and urgent revitalisation of decaying infrastructure. Students in many schools, including the University of Uyo, were left stranded as ongoing examinations were suspended.

Lecturers accused the federal government of neglecting agreements dating back to 2009 and failing to act on recommendations from the Elijah Yayale Ahmed-led renegotiation committee submitted in February 2025. Many branches said they had remained on the same salary structure for 16 years despite rising inflation, worsening economic conditions, and repeated government promises of review.

In Abuja, Lagos, Jos, Akure, Uyo, and other cities, protesters warned that the demonstrations were only a prelude to a possible indefinite strike if the government did not act. At the University of Maiduguri, lecturers described the government’s failure to implement the renegotiated agreement as bad faith, while branches in Sokoto and Umudike demanded immediate action on the union’s demands.

Across states, lecturers also rejected a new federal loan scheme meant for tertiary institution staff, calling it a trap that could plunge academics and their families into long-term debt. In Bayelsa, Niger Delta University lecturers called it “generational bondage,” while those in Jos labelled it a “poisoned chalice.”

The protests also brought to light growing concerns about lecturers’ welfare. At the Federal University of Lafia, ASUU members revealed that over 240 academics reportedly die each year due to stress and poor living conditions linked to the government’s failure to improve salaries and welfare packages. In Minna, Jos, and Gusau, lecturers decried unpaid arrears and unremitted deductions, calling for urgent government intervention.

In Ibadan, lecturers from the University of Ibadan and Emmanuel Alayande University of Education warned that only the signing of the renegotiated agreement during the scheduled August 28 meeting with government officials could avert a fresh strike. Similar messages were echoed in Ilorin, Nsukka, Awka, Kano, and Ebonyi, where lecturers staged peaceful rallies calling for immediate action.

Placards carried by protesters carried messages such as “We are lecturers not beggars,” “Pay us sustainable salaries,” and “Universities deserve proper funding.”

The union warned that the patience of lecturers has reached a breaking point, urging the National Assembly, traditional rulers, and concerned Nigerians to intervene before the university system slides into another shutdown. For now, the protests have disrupted teaching, examinations, and research across campuses, leaving the future of students once again uncertain.