The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Kaduna State University chapter, has announced that more than 200 professors and other teaching staff have left the university, citing poor conditions of service and the institution's failure to implement a federal agreement signed with the union.
ASUU-KASU chairman Abubakar Abdullahi made the disclosure on Monday, August 17, 2026, at a press conference held at the union's secretariat on the KASU campus in Kaduna. He said the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU Agreement, designed to improve conditions of service for academic staff across Nigerian universities, came into force in January 2026, but KASU had not taken a single step towards implementing it, according to Punch reports.
Why Lecturers Are Leaving KASU
Abdullahi explained that ASUU had written repeatedly to the university management, the Governing Council, and the Kaduna State Governor as the institution's visitor, urging them to domesticate and implement the agreement in line with the law establishing the university. Despite these efforts, eight months had passed without action, even as most federal universities and several state universities had already implemented the agreement or announced timelines and begun paying salary arrears.
He warned that the delay had left KASU academic staff among the lowest-paid university workers in Nigeria, a sharp departure from the institution's earlier reputation for prioritising staff welfare. The continued exodus of experienced lecturers, he added, could take years to reverse.
Beyond the 2025 agreement, the union listed several other unresolved local concerns, including excessive workloads, promotion arrears, unpaid death benefits, inadequate group life insurance, outstanding 25 and 35 per cent wage awards, and irregular pension remittances.
Two-Week Ultimatum Before Indefinite Strike
Abdullahi said ASUU-KASU's Congress, at a meeting on August 12, 2026, voted to declare an industrial dispute and proceed to a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike if the university failed to act. The decision aligned with a resolution passed at the National Executive Council of ASUU, which convened at the University of Abuja on August 8 and 9, 2026.
The two-week ultimatum, he said, was issued in accordance with established procedures for industrial disputes, giving the university a final window to take concrete steps before the strike is activated. The union appealed to parents, stakeholders and well-meaning Nigerians to intervene and help prevent a shutdown that would disrupt academic activities at the institution.
FG Reaches Landmark Agreement with ASUU
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Nigerian federal government concluded a major agreement with ASUU as part of a renewed effort to reposition Nigeria's higher education sector. The pact, reached after sustained engagement between both sides, is designed to strengthen cooperation, improve learning outcomes, and promote long-term development across public universities.
