Photo File: ASUU Logo

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is set to hold congresses across campuses to determine its next line of action after Tuesday’s nationwide protests, even as Vice Chancellors and academics decried poor remuneration for lecturers.

The protests, which highlighted unresolved demands under the renegotiated 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement, came ahead of a crucial Federal Government meeting today with key ministries and regulatory bodies to chart a path for implementation.

The meeting—expected to include the Ministers of Education, Labour, and officials of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission—will focus on reconciling the Yayale Ahmed committee draft of December 2024 with the 2009 agreement and the Nimi Briggs report, while producing a timetable for phased implementation.

ASUU president, Prof. Chris Piwuna, said the union was not invited to the meeting, stressing that lecturers are weary of government’s repeated promises.

“I truly hope they will come up with something tangible. Our members are tired of words and no action,” he said, adding that the union would consult its members before announcing next steps.

According to information obtained by newsmen, under the current Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure, Graduate Assistants earn between N125,000 and N138,000 monthly, while professors earn between N525,010 and N633,333. After deductions, many take home less than N400,000.

Former Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, described the situation as demoralising.

“The lecturers are tired, the morale is low, and the standard of teaching is going down. As Vice Chancellor, I earned N900,000. My present salary as a professor is N700,000. My son saw my pay slip and described it as a joke,” he said.

Other academics warned that stagnant salaries and poor conditions of service were fuelling brain drain. Prof. Tunde Adeoye of the University of Lagos noted that after deductions, some professors take home as little as N300,000, far below what their counterparts earn in Kenya and Zimbabwe.

“Many of our members cannot pay house rents. Some who were sick have died because they couldn’t afford routine drugs,” he said.

The Secretary of the Committee of Vice Chancellors, Prof. Andrew Haruna, faulted successive governments for reducing the value of academics to salaries, stressing that poor pay and inadequate infrastructure undermine research and teaching.

“If I earn $4,000 abroad and you pay me N400,000 here, it simply shows the value you place on academics. Professors are globally mobile, and Nigeria is losing them,” he said.

ASUU has maintained that without a review of salaries, conditions of service, and university autonomy, the education sector will remain unstable.