Students and vehicles outside Ondo State University gate amid concerns over funding.
By Damilola Isaiah, Akure
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State has warned that the institution is on the verge of collapse due to poor funding and years of government neglect, a crisis that has left staff unpaid and infrastructure in decay.
Addressing journalists at a press conference at the AAUA Business School, Akure, the state capital, the union chairperson, Comrade Boluwaji Oshodi, accused successive governments of gross neglect of the university.
According to him, the university had been neglected over the years particularly in the past six years, resulting in decaying infrastructure, poor staff welfare, and mounting salary arrears.
He revealed that members of staff are currently owed two months’ salaries for August and September 2025, alongside a backlog of arrears and allowances running into billions of naira.
Oshodi said the development had forced its members to embark on an indefinite strike to press home their demands.
He said “We are here today, to draw attention to the bad situation of things in Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, (AAUA) Ondo State, as it concerns staff welfare and infrastructural development, particularly, the plight of academic staff of the University.”
”The citadel of learning has witnessed serious neglect by successive governments, especially in the last six years in terms of inadequate funding which has led to a backlog of salary arrears and allowances running into billions of Naira”, he said.
The lecturers further lamented that despite repeated efforts to engage the government, including several acknowledged letters to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, and meetings with top government officials, little or no progress has been made.
They accused the state government of failing to fulfil its promises, including the dispatch of a verification team from the Ministry of Finance to ascertain the university’s financial challenges.
“It is important to remind His Excellency that while he was the Acting Governor of Ondo State, he promised to salvage the situation in AAUA. Now that he has assumed full leadership, we believe he must urgently intervene to restore the glory of this great university,” the union added.
The union further painted a grim picture of the institution’s physical state, describing the access roads leading to the institution as deplorable and most academic buildings as inhabitable which have forced staff out of their offices.
On the issue of capital grants, ASUU alleged that the state government had not released a kobo for capital projects in the last seven years, despite yearly budgetary allocations by the Ondo State House of Assembly.
The union revealed that AAUA had relied on TETFund interventions in the past but was stripped of such opportunities under the last administration, worsening the infrastructure deficit.
Currently, the union disclosed that AAUA receives a monthly subsidy of N223.1 million from the government, while its wage bill is over N555 million. By implication, the university is forced to generate an additional N333 million monthly to meet salary obligations, a burden that has become unbearable.
The union expressed dismay that while AAUA is left to languish, a sister tertiary institution in the state has received special financial interventions worth N2.597 billion from both the immediate past and current administrations. “The question must be asked, what has AAUA done wrong or not doing right?” Oshodi queried.
The union demanded urgent release of special intervention funds to offset outstanding salaries and allowances, as well as an upward review of monthly subvention to reflect the university’s current wage bill. The union insisted that AAUA, established in 1999 and widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s model universities, deserves equal treatment with other state-owned institutions.
Reaffirming their commitment to quality education, Oshodi declared that AAUA remains the pride of Ondo State.
”With the financial prudence and dedication of staff, it is sad that we are being owed salaries. What is good for the goose should be good for the gander. We shall continue to work for the progress of AAUA, but the government must act now to prevent total collapse,” he stressed.
