LAGOS – The Lagos Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has threatened industrial action over the Lagos State Government’s failure to implement the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement in its three state-owned universities. Addressing journalists at Lagos State University of Science and Technology, LASUSTECH, on Thursday, July 2, 2026, Zonal Coordinator, Comrade Adesola Nassir, said academic staff in LASU, LASUED, and LASUSTECH “feel neglected, undervalued, and increasingly uncertain about the government’s commitment to their welfare.”
Comrade Nassir recalled that the Union spent eight years renegotiating the 2009 Agreement, which culminated in the signing of the 2025 Agreement with the Federal Government. He noted that Pro-Chancellors of Federal and State Universities were part of the negotiation team. “By this arrangement, we therefore believed that the implementation of the Agreement would be seamless such that the disruption in academic calendars, occasioned by Union strikes over non-implementation, would be avoided,” he said. “To our utter disappointment, the Lagos State Government appears to be playing the ostrich on this matter.”
The ASUU leader said six months of engagement with representatives of the Lagos State Government had not produced any concrete results. He posed several questions to the state government: “Is Lagos State at war with the Federal Government on the matter of welfare, salary inclusive, for the staff of her universities? Would it be right to continue to delay the implementation when neighbouring State Universities that are less financially endowed have started implementing the Agreement?”
Nassir argued that Lagos State, which bears the slogan ‘Centre of Excellence’, cannot claim excellence while its academic workforce faces uncertainty over welfare. “No government can legitimately claim excellence while the intellectual workforce responsible for producing excellence experiences prolonged uncertainty over agreed welfare commitments,” he stated. He warned that despondency among staff at LASU, LASUSTECH, and LASUED was already triggering “institutional decline, staff apathy, ethical drift, sharp practices, and reduced graduate quality.”
The Zonal Coordinator said ASUU was giving “full backing” to other state universities that had shut down over the non-implementation of the Agreement. He also raised specific grievances, including the dismissal of ASUU officers at LASU “spanning almost 10 years” and the termination of the LASUED Branch Chairperson. “At LASUED, a flimsy administrative matter was weaponized and used to terminate the appointment of our Chairperson. These matters must be apprehended now before it spills out of control,” he said.
ASUU Lagos Zone said it would support any decision taken by the three institutions to press for implementation. “We are thereby alerting the Lagos State Government of a brewing unrest in the State. Government, not ASUU, should be held responsible if all Universities belonging to Lagos State are thrown into avoidable crises or totally shut down,” Nassir warned.
The Union urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who is also Visitor to the universities, to resolve the matter to ensure a crisis-free tenure. It demanded immediate conclusion of discussions with its branches for full implementation of the Agreement. “Obsta principiis! Praemonitus, praemunitus!!” Nassir concluded, meaning ‘Resist the beginnings! Forewarned is forearmed.’
_Reporting for OGBC News, Lagos._
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