ASUU-COOU Threatens Strike Over Delay in Implementing 2025 Agreement

By Praise Chinecherem

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (ASUU-COOU) Branch, has threatened to begin processes toward industrial action if the 2025 agreement between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government is not implemented without further delay.

The union, which expressed frustration over what it described as prolonged delays in implementing the agreement, appealed to the Anambra State Government, the university’s Governing Council and Management to urgently honour the agreement and improve the welfare and working conditions of academic staff.

The position was contained in a statement signed by the ASUU-COOU Chairperson, Comrade Bruno Ibekilo, and Secretary, Comrade Udoka Bernard Alajekwu, following the branch’s congress held on Thursday, September 17, 2026.

According to the union, members have remained patient and continued to discharge their responsibilities despite what it described as years of stagnation in their salaries and conditions of service.

ASUU-COOU said the 2025 ASUU–Federal Government agreement, concluded after prolonged renegotiations in December 2025 and effective from January 1, 2026, provides for improved salaries and conditions of service for academic staff.

The union said it had made several efforts to secure implementation of the agreement at the university, including meetings with the university administration and a joint committee comprising representatives of the union, Management and the Governing Council.

It also disclosed that ASUU National and the Owerri Zone leadership visited the university in July 2026 as part of advocacy efforts to push for implementation in institutions where the agreement had yet to be implemented, particularly state-owned universities.

The statement said, “The ASUU-COOU branch has held several meetings with the university administration and a joint committee of the union, administration and the Governing Council where the financial and non-financial implications of the agreement were presented and discussed, and relevant implementation-supporting documents produced.”

Despite the engagements, the union said implementation had yet to commence at COOU.

ASUU-COOU further stated that its August 26, 2026 Congress resolved to continue consultations and engagements with relevant stakeholders, describing dialogue as the “most honourable approach.” However, it said the approach had not produced the desired outcome.

The union expressed concern that academic staff at COOU were being left behind compared with colleagues in other state-owned universities.

“The outcome of the peaceful wait in expectation has not been beneficial to our members,” the statement said, citing developments in other state universities, including institutions in Abia State.

The union also noted that while academic activities at Imo State University had been disrupted by strike action, ASUU-COOU had chosen to remain supportive of its Governing Council and university administration in the hope that the matter would be resolved through dialogue.

However, the branch said its patience had reached a critical point.

“At her September 17th Congress, the union resolved that if the receipt of their September 2026 salary comes without the components of the agreement, the branch would start to reconsider her stand of waiting in peaceful anticipation and initiate the processes of an industrial action as a final resort,” the statement said.

The union subsequently called on the Anambra State Government, the Visitor to the university, the Governing Council, Management and other stakeholders to urgently intervene.

ASUU-COOU said its members had remained on the same salary structure, without a structured salary increase, since the post-2009 agreement, yet continued to maintain the university’s academic calendar and perform their duties.

“We must restate that even having remained on the same salary structure and with no structured salary increment since the post-2009 agreement, ASUU-COOU members have remained committed to their responsibilities,” the union said.

It added that some lecturers were now borrowing money to commute to the university’s campuses in Igbariam and Uli to perform their duties.

The union warned that continued failure to implement the agreement could affect staff morale, make it more difficult to retain qualified academics and ultimately undermine the quality of education at the university.

It therefore urged the Anambra State Government, Governing Council and University Management to implement the agreement, saying this was necessary to improve staff welfare, retain academic talent and sustain quality university education at COOU.

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