Nigeria's public universities are facing a renewed threat of industrial action after the Academic Staff Union of Universities raised the alarm over the Federal Government's continued failure to implement agreements signed with the union, warning that patience among its members was running out.

The Sokoto Zone of the union sounded the warning on Thursday at a press conference in Sokoto, where Zonal Coordinator Abubakar Sabo told journalists that despite the public signing of the 2025 FGN ASUU Agreement in January 2026, the Federal Government had yet to inaugurate the Implementation Monitoring Committee responsible for ensuring compliance.

"The continued delay in addressing these issues is capable of provoking avoidable industrial unrest in the university system," Sabo cautioned.

The union disclosed that several universities across the country had not yet implemented the agreed 40% salary increment tied to Consolidated Academic Tool Allowances, Earned Academic Allowances and Professorial Allowances, describing the situation as one generating tension and threatening industrial harmony on campuses.

The Sokoto Zone's concerns were echoed a day earlier in Kano, where the ASUU Kano Zone Coordinator, Abdullahi Muhammad, addressed a separate press conference at Bayero University Kano and condemned what he described as selective enforcement by university administrators. "ASUU Kano Zone strongly condemns the partial or outright refusal to implement the salary component of the 2025 FGN ASUU agreement by several Vice Chancellors of public universities," Muhammad stated, adding that the enthusiasm generated by the agreement's unveiling on 14 January 2026 was gradually diminishing.

Beyond salary matters, the Sokoto Zone listed a string of unresolved welfare issues confronting lecturers, including arrears of the 25 to 35% salary award, promotion arrears, salary shortfalls arising from the IPPIS platform, unremitted deductions, withheld salaries from the 2022 strike action and delayed pension payments for retired academics.

State owned universities in the Sokoto region were reported to be facing additional burdens, including unpaid Earned Academic Allowances, non remittance of cooperative deductions and union dues, non payment of annual increments since 2020 and the absence of governing councils in some institutions.

The union also turned its attention to recent federal education policies, opposing the proposed establishment of a Coventry University campus in Nigeria under the Transnational Education framework. "The proposed establishment of a campus of Coventry University in Nigeria undermines local universities and promotes educational dependency," ASUU stated, adding that plans to scrap certain humanities and social science courses were equally misguided and that all academic disciplines remained relevant to national development.

On insecurity, the union described conditions across Northern Nigeria as increasingly hostile to academic activities. "Banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and communal conflicts continue to threaten lives, livelihoods and educational activities, particularly in Northern Nigeria," Sabo warned, urging governments at all levels to address the crisis as a matter of urgency.

While reaffirming its commitment to dialogue, the union made clear it would not stand by while signed agreements were disregarded. "We call on both Federal and State Governments to faithfully implement every component of the Agreement in the interest of industrial harmony and stability in Nigerian universities," Sabo added.