The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Branch, Ogbomoso, has declared a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike, effective from 12:00am on Thursday (today), over the non-implementation of the 2025 Federal Government–ASUU agreement and outstanding staff entitlements.
The industrial action followed the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum issued to the university without a ‘significant response’ to its demands.
Before reaching the decision, members of the union held an emergency congress on Wednesday, October 28, to review the outcome of a meeting between their leaders and the university management at the Vice-Chancellor’s office on Tuesday.
The meeting was part of efforts to resolve the dispute and avert a disruption of academic activities, but failed to achieve its aim.
ASUU announced the strike in a statement dated October 29 and signed by the LAUTECH Branch Chairperson, Prof. Olujimi Dada, and Secretary, Dr Soji Arinola.
According to the union, the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement was signed in December 2025 and subsequently accepted and approved for implementation by the university’s Governing Council.
However, the council and university management have attributed the failure to fully implement the agreement to a lack of funds.
The union said it had made several attempts to resolve the dispute through engagements with the university administration, the Governing Council and the Oyo State Government.
It added that it pursued formal and informal channels and participated in consultative meetings in a bid to prevent the disagreement from escalating into an industrial crisis.
ASUU maintained that it had consistently favoured dialogue as the most responsible way to resolve disputes in a university environment.
However, it said the efforts failed to yield the desired results, leaving it with no option but to declare an industrial dispute.
With the approval of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) backing the resolution of its Congress, the LAUTECH branch formally declared a trade dispute with the university on October 14, 2026, and issued a 14-day ultimatum.
The ultimatum demanded the commencement of full implementation of the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement and payment of all outstanding staff entitlements, including the balance of Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) and promotion arrears accumulated between 2013 and 2025.
Following the declaration, the university administration invited ASUU representatives to a meeting on Tuesday, October 27.
At the meeting, the management reportedly informed the union of efforts to contact the university’s Visitor, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, to seek his intervention in facilitating the full implementation of the agreement.
ASUU, however, said LAUTECH remained one of only two universities in the South-West where the agreement had not been fully implemented.
The union also noted that, within its Ibadan Zone, which comprises the University of Ibadan, University of Ilorin, Osun State University, Kwara State University, LAUTECH and Emmanuel Alayande University of Education, only the two tertiary institutions owned by the Oyo State Government were yet to fully implement the agreement.
At its emergency congress on Wednesday, the union reviewed the developments and concluded that the university had failed to provide a relevant or significant response to the issues raised in the ultimatum, despite the expiration of the deadline.
Consequently, members resolved to embark on a full-blown industrial strike from midnight on October 29.
The action, the union declared, would remain total, comprehensive and indefinite until the university administration met its demands.
ASUU’s demands
At the heart of the dispute is ASUU’s demand for the full implementation of the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement, including the payment of consequential arrears dating back to January 2026.
The union is also demanding the payment of all outstanding staff entitlements, particularly EAA balances and promotion arrears owed for the period between 2013 and 2025.
Beyond the financial issues, ASUU listed several administrative and infrastructural concerns it wants the university management to address.
These include what the union described as distortions in the university’s governance structure, particularly the composition of the staff disciplinary committee.
It also called for the recomposition of the Committee of Provosts and Deans (COPD), which it said is currently under the Vice-Chancellor’s office.
Other demands include greater transparency in the university’s adopted electronic voting system, adequate office accommodation for staff and improvements to infrastructural facilities, particularly those relating to the university’s ICT Unit.
Academic activities suspended indefinitely
With the commencement of the strike, ASUU has directed its members to suspend all academic activities indefinitely.
The suspension covers statutory meetings, lectures, examinations and interactions with students, including teaching and laboratory activities.
The union also instructed its members to regard only information and directives issued by the branch chairperson as authentic and to comply with such directives.
