“We’re Fed Up” – ASUU Threatens Fresh Strike Over Unpaid Allowances

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has criticised the federal government over the poor implementation of the newly renegotiated agreement on Earned Academic Allowances (EAA).

Speaking with TheCable on Thursday, ASUU president Chris Piwuna said university lecturers have not received the allowance for the past 18 months.

The federal government had signed a fresh agreement with ASUU on January 14 after years of disputes and repeated strikes in public universities.

The agreement was reached after negotiations between government representatives and the union ended in December 2025.

Despite the agreement, delays in salary payments have continued in many federal universities since February, causing growing anger among lecturers nationwide.

Several ASUU branches have already warned the government that industrial action could resume if the terms of the agreement are not fully carried out.

Piwuna said lecturers are frustrated with what he described as the careless handling of the agreement by the federal ministry of education, especially regarding the payment of EAA.

The ASUU president accused the ministry of failing to properly implement the agreement and warned that the union may soon take action.

“Our members across the branches feel the pinch, so their responses are expected,” he said.

“The federal ministry of education has gone to sleep. We intend to wake them up. When the drums start beating, be sure of what will follow.”

According to him, the government should not sign agreements only to leave university vice-chancellors struggling to fund them.

“We agreed that EAA should be mainstreamed to address the problem of accumulated arrears. They are back to the mess of EAA arrears again,” he said.

Piwuna also criticised the government for announcing special professional allowances for lecturers while many university administrators are unable to pay them.

“Our promotion arrears have been waiting for the approval of the minister of finance. Now they say the new minister has to settle down. We are tired of your tactics. We are fed up,” the ASUU president maintained.

Piwuna noted that the EAA was supposed to become part of lecturers’ monthly salaries from January 2026, but this has not happened.

“We are literally back to the Ngige era of never-ending EAA renegotiation,” he said.

“The truth is that we have not received it (EAA) for 18 months.

“It was mainstreamed in the 2025 budget. They did not implement it. This current minister said it would start in January this year. Nothing.”

Giving more details, Piwuna said “after signing the December 2025 agreement, we had three allowances added to our salary — 40 percent covering things like journal allowance, conference allowance, book allowance, et cetera”.

“Then we have the professorial allowance. Then a percentage of EAA into our monthly salary.

“All these have been implemented in the most haphazard manner you could ever imagine,” he added.

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