Posted by Chinenye on Wed 12th Aug, 2026 - tori.ng
Students are facing an uncertain future after academic staff abruptly walked out of classrooms on Monday, launching a massive, open-ended strike that has brought a major university to a standstill.
(IMSU. Photo by Acada Extra)
Academic staff at Imo State University have initiated a total and indefinite strike citing the failure of state authorities and institutional management to honour a December 2025 federal agreement governing welfare conditions for university lecturers.
The union formally announced the action on Monday following a press conference at the university's Owerri campus.
The pact, executed jointly by ASUU and the Federal Government on December 23, 2025, was designated to commence implementation on January 1, 2026.
Nearly eight months have elapsed without any meaningful action despite successive attempts by union representatives to engage institutional leadership, present agreement documentation and issue formal notice periods.
Leadership characterised the administration's response as inadequate and unacceptable.
Union officials expressed particular frustration that comparable state institutions operating in Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Osun and Sokoto have proceeded with implementation whilst IMSU remains static.
The institutional context compounds the grievance: academic personnel continue experiencing unpaid promotion benefits accumulated since 2016, several staff members have gone months without salary disbursements, union representation fees remain withheld across 21 months, statutory allowances have not been released since 2009, and the university operates under Treasury Single Account restrictions that undermine institutional financial independence.
The union traced escalating tensions to a preceding 2024 strike action that was suspended following administrative assurances of corrective measures that subsequently proved hollow.
Leadership emphasised commitment to negotiated resolution whilst affirming that lecturers will remain absent from campus until comprehensive agreement implementation materialises.
The union appealed to state government, religious organisations, civil society bodies, parents and educational stakeholders to exert pressure on institutional leadership to comply with the federal accord.