ASUU Shuts Down IMSU, Declares Indefinite Strike Over Unimplemented 2025 FGN Agreement

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Imo State University (IMSU) Owerri Branch, has declared a total and indefinite strike, effectively shutting down academic activities at the institution over what it described as the continued non-implementation of an agreement reached between the union and the Federal Government in December 2025.

The union announced the strike on Monday, August 10, 2026, during a press conference held at the university in Owerri. Branch Chairman, Stephen Oguji, and Secretary, Lazarus Chikwendu, said the decision followed the failure of both the Imo State Government and the university management to implement the agreement, despite months of engagement between the parties.

According to the union, ASUU and the Federal Government signed the agreement on December 23, 2025, covering enhanced welfare provisions and improved conditions of service for academic staff in public universities nationwide, with implementation originally scheduled to take effect from January 1, 2026. However, more than seven months after that effective date, IMSU had reportedly seen no meaningful progress toward implementation.

In an address presented at the press conference, IMSU ASUU leadership recalled that the union had already addressed the media on the matter as far back as May 11, 2026, following its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Yola. At the zonal level, the union said it had raised the issue again roughly six weeks prior to the strike declaration, specifically calling on the Imo State Government to implement the agreement at IMSU.

"But unfortunately, nearly eight months down the line, nothing has changed in Imo State University," the union stated, noting with particular frustration that implementation had already commenced in several other state-owned universities, including institutions run by Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Osun, and Sokoto states, while IMSU continued to be left behind despite repeated engagement with its administration.

The union explained that the decision to embark on strike action followed the expiration of a 21-day ultimatum it had issued to the university, during which it said there had been no meaningful response from either the state government or university management despite prior presentation of the agreement and multiple rounds of dialogue.

"ASUU-IMSU has therefore today, 10th August, 2026, embarked on a total and indefinite strike and vows never to return to work until the agreement is fully implemented," the union declared, adding that continued delay in implementing the agreement served no useful purpose and would only heighten industrial tension between the union and the relevant authorities.

Beyond the core issue of the unimplemented 2025 agreement, ASUU also cited unpaid salaries and long-outstanding promotion arrears dating as far back as 2016 among the broader grievances driving the industrial action, pointing to a pattern of unresolved welfare issues affecting academic staff at the institution over an extended period.

The union formally called on the Imo State Government to urgently direct the implementation of the 2025 FGN-ASUU agreement at IMSU, while also appealing to traditional and religious institutions, civil society organisations, parents, student unions, and other relevant stakeholders to intervene and prevail on the university's Visitor to address the situation. Despite the firm tone of the strike declaration, the union stressed that it remained committed to dialogue, consultation, and constructive engagement as its preferred mechanisms for resolving the dispute, signalling openness to a negotiated resolution should the government respond.

The strike's abrupt commencement reportedly disrupted ongoing academic activities at the institution, with some students caught mid-examination when the industrial action took effect, according to accounts shared by affected students on social media. The disruption has since sparked reactions online, with many students expressing uncertainty over when normal academic activities, including suspended examinations, will resume.

The IMSU strike comes amid a broader wave of similar industrial disputes at state-owned universities across Nigeria, with ASUU branches at institutions including Nasarawa State University, Keffi, and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University in Anambra State also raising concerns in recent months over delayed or non-implementation of the same 2025 FGN-ASUU agreement. The pattern reflects a recurring source of friction between the union and various state governments over the pace and consistency of implementing federally negotiated welfare agreements at the state level, disputes that have repeatedly disrupted academic calendars at Nigerian public universities in recent years.

As of the time of this report, neither the Imo State Government nor IMSU management had issued a public response to the union's allegations, leaving the strike's duration, and the timeline for resumption of academic activities at the institution, uncertain.