The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Benin Zone, has rejected the salary increase proposed by the Federal Government.
Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Prof. Monday Lewis Igbafen, disclosed this in Benin during a press briefing on the union’s position regarding the proposal.
Describing the proposed increment as “a mere drop in the ocean” that cannot address the worsening brain drain in Nigeria’s university system, Igbafen said the Federal Government had once again shown an “unwillingness to decisively and comprehensively resolve all lingering issues.”
He stated that the government must demonstrate genuine commitment by concluding the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement and effectively addressing other related concerns.
According to him, the current salary structure and working conditions require urgent and bold intervention to prevent an imminent crisis.
“We have rejected the proposed increment because it is grossly inadequate and cannot reverse the brain drain plaguing the nation’s universities,” he said. “We are saying enough is enough to the Federal Government’s back-and-forth approach. This half-hearted ‘we are talking with ASUU’ narrative without concrete outcomes must end.”
Igbafen further lamented that lecturers have remained under the same salary structure since 2009, when the naira exchanged at N120 to the dollar—despite multiple salary reviews in other sectors.
He stressed that the refusal to conclude negotiations has left university lecturers trapped in an outdated pay regime, worsening their economic conditions.
