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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Benin Zone, has strongly condemned the lukewarm attitude of the Ondo State Government towards the implementation of the 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement in the state’s three universities: Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko; Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa; and the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo.
Academic staff in the three institutions, under the aegis of ASUU, have been on strike for more than 30 days over the failure to implement the Agreement.
Despite the prolonged industrial action, the State Government has yet to take decisive steps towards resolving the impasse by swiftly implementing the 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement and bringing the strike to an end.
The 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement was formally unveiled on 14 January 2026 by the Federal Government.
The unveiling signalled what has been described as the end of years of struggle to renegotiate the 2009 Agreement and to secure enduring industrial peace in the public universities.
In a press statement issued at Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, Delta State, by the Zonal Coordinator of Benin Zone of ASUU, Prof. Monday Lewis Igbafen, and made available to journalists in Benin City, the Benin Zone of ASUU berated the Ondo State Government over what it described as “not only the Ondo State Government’s uncooperative attitude and seeming refusal to implement the 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement but also its penchant for gross underfunding of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, and the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo.”
The statement expressed grave concern over the continued refusal by the Ondo State Government to implement the 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement and the resulting strike action at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, and the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo.
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Regrettably, while credible reports indicate that the Edo and Delta State Governments have given the green light to implement the 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement in their state universities with effect from September 2026 and the payment of arrears from January 2026, the Ondo State Government is foot-dragging and demonstrating insensitivity to the welfare of staff and the plight of students who are presently at home because of the ongoing strike in their institutions.
The statement maintained that the development in the three state universities was not merely regrettable; it was provocative and unjust, because members of the Union in these institutions were being short-changed by the Governor and Visitor to these universities, who had failed to provide the financial backing required for the implementation of the 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement.
The statement urged the Federal Government, especially the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC), to call the Ondo State Governor and Visitor to the three state universities to order.
The statement expressed the strong support of the Benin Zone of ASUU for the ongoing strike in Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, and the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, and threatened to relocate the zonal secretariat of the Union to one of the state universities in the State in solidarity and for effective monitoring of the situation.
The statement called on the Ondo State Government to demonstrate sincere commitment to the welfare of staff and the education of students in the three state universities by prioritising education in the State.
The Benin Zone comprises the University of Benin, Benin City; Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun; Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma; Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko; Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa; Delta State University, Abraka; University of Delta, Agbor; Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba; and Southern Delta University, Ozoro.
