The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Kaduna State University (KASU) chapter, has raised the alarm over the exodus of professors and other academic staff from the institution, attributing the development to poor conditions of service and the non-implementation of the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU Agreement.
The union has consequently issued a two-week ultimatum to the university authorities to take concrete steps towards the full implementation and domestication of the agreement, warning that failure to do so could lead to a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike.
Chairman of ASUU-KASU, Comrade Abubakar Abdullahi, issued the ultimatum on Monday at a press conference held at the union’s secretariat, Kaduna State University, Kaduna.
Abdullahi said the 2025 FGN-ASUU Agreement, which provides for new conditions of service for academic staff in Nigerian universities, became effective in January 2026 but had yet to be implemented at KASU.
He said 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 line with the law establishing the institution.
According to him, the union had also engaged stakeholders within and outside the state to intervene in the matter in a bid to maintain peace, stability and industrial harmony at the university.
The chairman expressed concern that more than eight months after the agreement was signed, KASU was 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, he said.
He added that the situation had contributed to the deterioration of staff welfare at KASU, which he said was previously among universities known for good conditions of service.
Abdullahi said the university had previously attracted some of the best academic hands because of its competitive staff welfare policies, but lamented that the situation had now been reversed.
He said KASU was losing experienced academics, including professors, to other universities, describing the development as “frightening.”
He said, “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.”
The chairman warned that no university system could survive such a mass exodus of experienced academic staff, adding that it could take years for KASU to recover from the loss.
Abdullahi 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 said the two-week ultimatum was issued in accordance with established procedures governing industrial disputes, giving the authorities time 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 autonomy, excessive workload, promotion arrears, death benefits, group life insurance coverage, the 25 and 35 per cent wage awards and pension remittances.
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