Nigeria’s public university system cannot achieve lasting stability unless both federal and state governments fulfil their financial and administrative obligations, president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Professor Christopher Piwuna, has said.
Piwuna made the assertion on Wednesday during an appearance on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu.
His remarks followed ASUU’s renewed warning that it could resume its suspended nationwide strike if the government fails to address outstanding issues arising from the December 2025 agreement with the union.
Among the unresolved matters are salary arrears, unremitted deductions, funding concerns and the incomplete implementation of provisions contained in the agreement.
Piwuna said ASUU entered into the December agreement expecting it to end the cycle of repeated disputes between the union and government and allow attention to shift toward improving the quality and stability of university education.
Instead, he said, inconsistent implementation had kept several of the issues alive.
“It’s really painful to have conversation on issues like this,” Piwuna said, explaining that the union had expected to be discussing progress and stability in the university system rather than returning to previously negotiated commitments.
According to him, the agreement covered several areas considered essential to the development of public universities, including institutional funding, improved remuneration for academic staff and support for research.
He said some of those commitments had yet to be fully implemented.
“The agreement, when we signed it, had provision for funding for public universities. It had provisions for improved salary, and it had provision for research council, amongst others,” he said.
The ASUU president attributed part of the difficulty to the divided responsibility for Nigeria’s public universities.
While the federal government oversees federal universities, state governments are responsible for institutions established by their respective states.
Piwuna said the uneven implementation of agreed measures had consequently produced varying conditions for university lecturers across the country.
He cited Abia State Governor Alex Otti as an example of a state government that had, according to him, implemented the agreement.
“Only Governor Alex Oti of the South Eastern part has implemented it,” he said.
Piwuna also said the Federal Government had obligations that remained outstanding despite repeated engagements with officials responsible for implementing the agreement.
He identified the Minister of Education and Senator Larry Tejuosho, whom he described as chairman of the committee monitoring implementation of the Federal Government agreement, among those ASUU had engaged.
“We have engaged them; the Minister of Education at federal level, we engaged Senator Larry Tejuosho, the chairman of the implementation committee monitoring of the Federal Government agreement. We have reminded them to do the needful,” he said.
Beyond the December agreement, unresolved salary payments continue to fuel discontent among university lecturers.
ASUU said in its September 11 statement that lecturers were still owed three-and-a-half months out of the seven-and-a-half months of salaries withheld during the previous administration.
The union also listed unremitted deductions and incomplete implementation of the agreement among the reasons for its latest strike warning.
Piwuna said the salary problem had become particularly troubling because some universities were being forced to engage their respective authorities before lecturers could receive their pay.
He also alleged that some institutions had not been incorporated into the new salary structure.
“As we stand now, funding is not properly being done according to what was agreed to. Individual universities have to embark on strike before salaries are being paid. Some universities are cut off from the new salary structure,” he said.
For Piwuna, the recurring disputes point to a wider funding problem within Nigeria’s education sector.
He argued that government must increase investment in universities if the country expects them to produce quality research, teaching and human capital.
Piwuna disclosed that ASUU had advocated a gradual increase in education funding to 15 per cent of the national budget, saying the target could be achieved incrementally despite the financial difficulties involved.
“So while negotiating with the government, we told the government to reduce the budget to 15 per cent and they agreed. Although it may be difficult, but it can be done incrementally,” he said.
He urged the federal and state governments to recognise their respective responsibilities to public universities and ensure that negotiated agreements are implemented fully.
While ASUU has left open the possibility of returning to industrial action, Piwuna said the union remained willing to engage government through dialogue.
He nevertheless stressed that negotiations would have little value if agreements reached at the end of the process were not followed by concrete implementation.