ASUU Warns FG Over Unpaid Salaries And Unfulfilled Promises

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Jos chapter, has accused the Federal Government of deceiving the public over the implementation of agreements reached with university workers.

The union said it is tired of empty assurances and is demanding actual payment of pending entitlements rather than what it described as misleading public statements from the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Maruf Alausa.

The tension comes as ASUU prepares for a crucial National Executive Council meeting on November 8 and 9, where members will decide whether to resume their suspended strike. The union had earlier given the government a four-week ultimatum on October 22 to meet its outstanding obligations. Two weeks into the deadline, the union said it has seen little or no progress in addressing its grievances.

According to the statement signed by the branch chairperson, Professor Jurbe Joseph Molwus, university lecturers are still awaiting the payment of 3.5 months of withheld salaries, wage award arrears of 25 and 35 percent, promotion arrears, and salaries owed to some members. The union said its members have grown weary of government pronouncements that are not backed by actual payment, insisting that what they need now are verifiable credit alerts, not promises.

ASUU also faulted the government’s handling of the ₦50 billion revitalisation fund for public universities, saying no institution has received a single naira from the money the minister claimed was released weeks ago. The union described the claim that ₦2.3 billion had been disbursed to offset salary and promotion arrears across federal universities as false and embarrassing, arguing that such an amount could barely cover the needs of just a few universities in the country.

The university teachers accused Dr. Alausa of issuing inconsistent statements and lacking genuine commitment to resolving the crisis. They urged him to abandon rhetoric and focus on meaningful engagement that would address the root causes of the disputes, warning that temporary palliatives cannot solve structural problems within the education sector.

With the NEC meeting only days away, tension is building across public universities as lecturers await the union’s decision. Many fear that if the government fails to act before the deadline expires, the country could face another full-scale shutdown of academic activities in public universities, disrupting the academic calendar yet again.