The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has announced a no-pay, no-work policy against the Federal Government due to the persistent delay in paying salaries of university lecturers. The union’s national president, Professor Chris Piwuna, revealed this in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Friday.
ASUU accused the government of deliberately frustrating its members after they exited the Integrated Payment and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), a payment platform that has been criticized for several years by academic unions. The government had earlier removed academic and non-academic university staff from the IPPIS system.
Professor Piwuna said since leaving IPPIS, the payment of lecturers’ salaries has been irregular and delayed. “We don’t get paid the way other workers get paid. Sometimes, we are paid 10 days into the new month,” he said. He added that with the worsening economic situation in the country, the delay has made life difficult for union members.
Highlighting the situation, Piwuna said, “Look at June now, we have not been paid. Our members can’t celebrate Sallah properly. So, we have now resolved that since the government wants to delay our salaries, we can’t continue to teach. We want to teach, but we can’t teach without our salaries.”
The union has begun implementing the policy, with several branches already boycotting lectures. The no-pay, no-work stance means that lecturers are refusing to conduct classes until their salaries are fully paid.
The impact of this decision is already being felt across universities nationwide, disrupting academic activities. Many students and parents are worried about the potential delay in academic calendars.
The frustrations are shared by non-academic university staff as well. Mohammed Ibrahim, National President of the Joint Action Committee of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Allied Institutions, criticized the government over the ongoing salary delays.
He said last month, they sent multiple letters asking why salaries were not released but received no clear answers. “University workers are simply treated like second-class citizens,” he said.
Ibrahim also revealed that the unions had written to the Accountant General of the Federation and copied the Education and Labour Ministers. The Labour Ministry replied, stating they had contacted the Education Ministry, but no improvements have been seen so far.
The salary delay issue adds to the growing list of challenges faced by Nigerian universities, including funding shortages, infrastructural decay, and prolonged academic strikes over the years.
ASUU has a long history of clashing with the Federal Government over issues of funding and workers’ welfare. The IPPIS system was introduced by the government to improve payroll management and reduce fraud, but ASUU and other unions have repeatedly raised concerns about its suitability for university staff, arguing it limits their autonomy and causes payment issues.
The exit from IPPIS by academic and non-academic staff was supposed to address some of these problems, but the current delay in salary payments has worsened the situation, leading to the latest industrial action.
The Federal Government is yet to officially respond to the no-pay, no-work declaration. However, the delay in paying university staff threatens to disrupt the education sector, potentially affecting thousands of students and the overall quality of higher education in Nigeria.
For now, academic activities remain suspended in many institutions as lecturers and staff await government action on their salary arrears.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) represents the teaching staff in Nigerian universities. It has frequently protested against poor funding, unpaid salaries, and poor working conditions. The Integrated Payment and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) was introduced to digitize government payments but faced opposition from university staff who said it was unsuitable for their unique payment needs.
