By Suad Ayinla
Edited by Bababunmi Agbebi
Another academic disruption is unfolding for students at Lagos State University (LASU), Lagos State University of Education (LASUED), Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH) and the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT). The universities are facing indefinite strikes by their respective branches of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), leaving students waiting for answers about when academic activities will resume.
In Lagos, the ASUU branches at LASU, LASUED and LASUSTECH began industrial action over unresolved issues surrounding the implementation of the 2025 agreement between the Federal Government and ASUU, alongside other demands concerning the welfare of academic staff. At UNIPORT, the dispute centres on issues including incomplete salary payments and outstanding responsibility allowances. Although the demands differ, the immediate effect is the same: students are once again caught in the middle of negotiations between university authorities and academic staff.
The impact goes beyond missing lectures. For students preparing for examinations, the strike could mean further changes to already planned schedules. Final-year students may have to wait longer for academic activities needed to complete their programmes, while those who have already made plans for graduation, national service, employment or further studies could also be affected. Students living around these campuses may equally continue to pay rent and other expenses while their schools remain inactive.
The situation also raises questions about how individual universities handle disputes before they become full-blown strikes. The fact that the affected institutions are dealing with different issues shows that there is no single problem behind the current disruptions. However, the repeated use of industrial action suggests that agreements, salary issues and staff welfare concerns are still not being resolved early enough to prevent academic activities from being interrupted.
For students of LASU, LASUED, LASUSTECH and UNIPORT, the priority is simple: they want to know when they can return to their classrooms and continue with their education. While ASUU and university or government authorities work through their disagreements, thousands of students are left putting their plans on hold. Until these disputes are resolved, another question remains:
how many more academic plans will have to wait before the issues are finally settled?
