KWASU lecturers protest unpaid allowances, unmet 2009 ASUU-FG agreement

Lecturers at the Kwara State University (KWASU) have protested the non-implementation of the 2009 agreement between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The lecturers took placards to the Agric Estate at the Sango Centre of the University in Ilorin.

The union also urged AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the Kwara governor, to pay arrears of their nine-year earned academic allowance (EAA).

Shehu Abdulganiyu-Salau, the chairman of KWASU ASUU, addressed journalists in Ilorin on Wednesday.

He said the union had previously met with the governor and received his assurance of payment as soon as the state’s economy improved.

“We have written several letters to the governor reminding him of his promise,” he said.

“We plead with him to pay us. We expect him to pay us the allowances as the allocations from Abuja to states have improved tremendously.

“Despite our efforts, we have yet to receive a positive response from the government.”

Abdulganiyu-Salau said third-party deductions have not been paid in most Nigerian universities.

He cited Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) in Ogbomoso, where he said a larger percentage of EAA since 2013 is still outstanding.

“In KWASU, on the other hand, EAA has not been paid since 2016. The EAA of UNIOSUN members are arbitrarily amputated by 50 per cent between 2015 and 2019,” Abdulganiyu-Salau said.

“To save the universities from pending avoidable crises, our union is calling on well-meaning Nigerians, opinion leaders, traditional and religious leaders to intervene.”

The ASUU chairman urged labour movements and civil society organisations to prevail on the federal and state governments to set in motion the process of signing and implementing the Yayale Ahmed-led renegotiated agreement, among other demands.

Abdulganiyu-Salau said the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement stipulated that the federal government would fund the EAA.

He said the commitment was reaffirmed in the December 2020 memorandum of action (MoA), which emphasised the integration of EAA into the monthly salaries of academic staff, with the next tranche scheduled for disbursement in 2021.

“ASUU and the federal government agreed on N50 billion to offset outstanding EAA obligations. Earlier in 2025, the federal government released the N50 billion,” Abdulganiyu-Salau stated.

“Contrary to the agreement that the funds were exclusively for academic staff, the amount was distributed among all university staff, which resulted in a shortfall, with N10 billion still owed to academic staff.

“The mainstreaming of EAA, originally slated to commence in 2022, has yet to be implemented in federal and most state universities, rendering the commitment unfulfilled.”