Academic activities at the University of Lagos have been disrupted following the commencement of an indefinite strike by lecturers protesting unexplained deductions in their January and February 2026 salaries, even as the University management promises to issue a statement addressing the matter.
The strike, which began on Wednesday, was declared by the University of Lagos chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities during an emergency meeting held on Tuesday.
In a communique signed by the ASUU UNILAG Chairperson, Idowu Kehinde, and its Secretary, Adesina Arikawe, the Union stated that the strike will remain in force until the University releases the remainder of the January and February salaries, as well as other withheld allowances.
ASUU UNILAG accused the University of failing to pay Earned Academic Allowance to academics at the Akoka Campus and both the EAA and Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance to academics at the Idi Araba campus.
"The University also unilaterally and wickedly paid amputated February 2026 salaries to all our members," the communique reads.
The Union resolved to reject in its entirety the recent action that resulted in all members receiving what it described as amputated January and February 2026 salaries, contrary to what obtains in other federal institutions of cognate status.
"In view of the foregoing and in line with the subsisting Pre NDC NEC resolution of Thursday, 8 May, 2025, Congress unanimously resolves as follows: (i) reject in its entirety the recent action that resulted in all our members receiving amputated January and February 2026 salaries as against what obtained in other federal institutions of cognate status like University of Lagos; (ii) withdraw our services effective Wednesday, 11 March, 2026, since the University has failed to pay our January and February 2026 salaries in full as at 9 March, 2026," the statement said.
The strike comes months after ASUU reached a new agreement with the federal government in December to increase pay and introduce new allowances for University lecturers. The agreement, unveiled in January, introduced a CATA allowance that ranges from N952,412 annually for Graduate Assistants to N3,790,676 annually for full professors.
The comprehensive agreement also increased the amounts payable to lecturers under the EAA, which includes allowances for postgraduate supervision, industrial training and teaching practice supervision, honorarium for conducting oral examination, study grants, responsibility allowance, and excess workload allowance.
The timing of the strike, coming shortly after the implementation of the new salary structure, raises questions about whether the deductions are connected to administrative challenges in implementing the agreement or represent a separate dispute between the university management and its academic staff.
