ASUU Protests Hit UNIBEN Over Unpaid Salaries

Lecturers in Edo State joined the nationwide protest by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Tuesday, demanding the immediate payment of withheld salaries, allowances and promotion arrears.

At the University of Benin, Lagos, Jigawa, Zamfara and others, union members rejected the Federal Government’s new loan scheme for tertiary workers, calling it a move that would worsen their hardship. They insisted that lecturers need their outstanding entitlements, not loans.

The union accused the government of failing to pay three and a half months’ salaries from the 2020 strike, as well as wage awards and earned allowances running into several years. They also faulted the government’s refusal to conclude the renegotiation of the 2009 FG-ASUU agreement.

ASUU warned that universities in the country could face another shutdown if the issues remain unresolved. The lecturers urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene directly, saying the neglect of the education sector is threatening industrial peace in Nigerian universities.