Lecturers at Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest, warning of an imminent indefinite strike if the Federal Government fails to sign the renegotiated 2009 agreement by Thursday, August 28, 2025.
The protest was part of a nationwide directive by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) National Executive Council (NEC), which ordered simultaneous demonstrations across all university campuses.
ASUU-DELSU chairman, Dr. Paul Opone, said the protest was a warning signal to President Bola Tinubu’s administration. He accused the government of deliberately stalling the agreement, stressing that lecturers’ salaries, last reviewed in 2009, have been eroded by inflation, leaving many in economic distress.
“Nigerian lecturers earn the lowest salaries in Africa while the country still calls itself the ‘Giant of Africa,’” Opone said. He rejected the Federal Government’s proposed Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund (TISSF), describing it as a deceptive loan scheme that would worsen lecturers’ plight.
ASUU-DELSU secretary, Festus Omosor, said the government’s neglect amounted to an attempt to “kill public education in Nigeria,” noting that many lecturers struggle to pay medical bills or children’s school fees. He added that more than 50 lecturers had died nationwide between February and August 2025 due to their inability to afford healthcare.
Former ASUU-DELSU chairmen, Prof. Godwin Demaki and Prof. Emma Mordi, also joined the protest, condemning the government’s “insincerity and failed promises.” They warned that lecturers were prepared to shut down all Nigerian universities if the agreement was not signed.
“The time has come for the Federal Government to show integrity. Enough of postponements and deceit. We will not allow intellectuals to be enslaved in their own country,” Prof. Mordi declared.
The ASUU leadership insists that unless the agreement—renegotiated with federal representatives since October 2024—is signed, the union will have no choice but to commence a nationwide strike, potentially crippling academic activities across Nigerian universities.
