The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Akure Zone, has threatened to embark on industrial action over the Ondo State Government’s failure to implement the financial provisions of the 2025 Federal Government–ASUU Agreement, warning that the delay is undermining lecturers’ welfare and the quality of higher education.
Speaking at a press conference held at the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo, the Zonal Coordinator, Adeola Egbedokun, accused the state government of failing to fulfil its obligations under the agreement despite being fully aware of its provisions.
Egbedokun said the government’s continued inaction had adversely affected lecturers’ welfare and weakened the effective operation of state-owned universities.
“This persistent inaction has adversely affected the welfare of our members and continues to undermine the effective functioning of the state-owned university system,” he said.
He explained that the 2025 Federal Government–ASUU Agreement, which took financial effect from 1 January 2026, provides for the payment of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA), Earned Academic Allowance (EAA), and Professorial Allowance to improve lecturers’ welfare and support excellence in teaching and research.
The union further alleged that the state government had delayed the implementation of nationally approved welfare packages for university lecturers, warning that the situation had weakened staff morale, fuelled brain drain, and threatened the quality of tertiary education.
Egbedokun said the union considered it necessary to alert students, parents, civil society organisations, and the wider public to the implications of the delay.
He warned that ASUU could commence industrial action if the state government failed to implement the agreement.
“Failure to act with the urgency demanded by this situation will leave ASUU with no option but to activate all lawful and legitimate actions available within the framework of a trade union to press home its demands,” he said.
Responding, the Ondo State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Igbekele Ajibefun, said the government had already initiated the process of implementing the agreement.
Ajibefun assured lecturers that the necessary steps would be taken shortly, adding that Ondo was not the only state yet to implement the agreement.
According to him, none of the states within the ASUU Akure Zone has fully implemented the welfare package.
