Empty Lecture Halls, Silent Campuses: Ondo State’s Higher Education Paralyzed as ASUU Decries Government’s ‘Insensitivity’
By Isaac Eranga
AKURE, Nigeria — Silence has settled over the sprawling lecture halls of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko. The bustling pathways of Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, sit quiet, while clinical training at the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, remains severely disrupted. For more than 30 days, the heartbeat of state-owned higher education in Ondo State has ceased, leaving thousands of students stranded in an ongoing industrial standoff.
The crisis deepened on Friday when the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Benin Zone, released a blistering press statement condemning the Ondo State Government for its “lukewarm disposition” and “penchant for gross underfunding” of its tertiary institutions.
At the center of the dispute is the failure of the Ondo State Government to implement the landmark 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement—a national pact formally unveiled by the Federal Government on January 14, 2026. Designed to end years of friction over the renegotiation of the historic 2009 Agreement, the pact was hailed across the country as a blueprint for enduring industrial peace in Nigeria’s public university system.
Yet, eight months after the federal unveiling, academics across Ondo’s three flagship institutions remain locked out of its benefits.
A Tale of Two Policies: Ondo vs. Neighbors
Addressing journalists in Benin City following a high-level briefing at Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, the Zonal Coordinator of the ASUU Benin Zone, Prof. Monday Lewis Igbafen, expressed grave concern over the state’s inaction while neighboring governments move forward.
According to the union, contrast is sharpest when looking just across state borders. Credible reports within the zone confirm that both the Edo and Delta State Governments have already given green lights to implement the 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement in their respective state universities, effective September 2026, alongside full payment of arrears backdated to January 2026.
In contrast, ASUU characterized the Ondo State Government’s response as foot-dragging, provocative, and unjust.
“Members of the Union in these institutions are being short-changed by the Governor and Visitor to these universities, who has failed to provide the financial backing required for the implementation of the 2025 FGN/ASUU Agreement,” Prof. Igbafen stated on behalf of the zone.
Zonal Solidarity and Threats of Escalation
The Benin Zone of ASUU—a powerful bloc encompassing nine major universities across Edo, Delta, and Ondo States—has thrown its full weight behind the striking academic staff.
To underscore the gravity of the situation, the zonal leadership threatened to relocate its zonal secretariat directly to one of the affected campuses in Ondo State. The move, according to the union, would serve as a gesture of solidarity and enable effective monitoring of the industrial action on the ground.
Furthermore, the union called on national regulatory bodies, including the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC), to step in and call the Ondo State Governor and Visitor of the universities to order before the crisis further degrades the quality of tertiary education in the state.
