ASUU-KASU gives two-week ultimatum, threatens indefinite strike over agreement

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Kaduna State University (KASU) chapter, has issued a two-week ultimatum to the university authorities to begin the full implementation and domestication of the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU Agreement, warning that failure could trigger a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike.

The union also raised the alarm over the increasing exodus of professors and other experienced academic staff from the institution, blaming the development on poor conditions of service and the failure to implement the agreement.

Chairman of ASUU-KASU, Comrade Abubakar Abdullahi, issued the ultimatum on Monday at a press conference held at the union’s secretariat at Kaduna State University.

Abdullahi said the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement, which provides for improved conditions of service for academic staff in Nigerian universities, became effective in January 2026 but was yet to be implemented at KASU.

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According to him, the union had written several letters to the university management, Governing Council and the Visitor to the university, Kaduna State Governor, urging them to domesticate and implement the agreement in accordance with the law establishing the institution.

He said ASUU-KASU had also engaged stakeholders within and outside Kaduna State to intervene in the matter in an effort to preserve peace, stability and industrial harmony at the university.

The chairman expressed concern that more than eight months after the agreement was signed, KASU had yet to commence its implementation, while several federal and state universities had either implemented the agreement or announced timelines for its implementation, including the payment of accrued arrears.

Abdullahi said the situation had contributed to the deterioration of staff welfare at KASU, which he noted was previously recognised for offering competitive conditions of service.

He said the university had historically attracted some of the best academic staff because of its welfare policies but lamented that the situation had now been reversed.

The chairman said KASU was losing experienced academics, including professors, to other universities, describing the rate of departure as “frightening.”

“At a rate that we are losing more than 200 professors at a time, professors and others alike. It’s frightening. No system survives with this kind of mass exodus,” he said.

Abdullahi warned that no university system could sustainably operate with such a loss of experienced academic staff, adding that it could take years for KASU to recover from the development.

He said the ASUU-KASU Congress, at its meeting on August 12, resolved to declare an industrial dispute and embark on a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike, in line with the resolution of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC), which met at the University of Abuja on August 8 and 9.

He explained that the two-week ultimatum was issued in accordance with established procedures governing industrial disputes, giving the university authorities an opportunity to take concrete steps towards the full implementation and domestication of the agreement.

The union also listed several outstanding local issues affecting its members, including university autonomy, excessive workload, promotion arrears, death benefits, group life insurance coverage, the 25 and 35 per cent wage awards, and pension remittances.