Academic staff at Imo State University (IMSU) have downed tools indefinitely, declaring a total strike over the state government’s failure to honour a December 2025 wage agreement.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), IMSU branch, made the announcement on Monday, August 10, 2026, after a 21-day ultimatum expired with “no meaningful response” from management.
Branch Chairman Stephen Oguji and Secretary Lazarus Chikwendu said the agreement—signed with the Federal Government on December 23, 2025—was due to take effect on January 1, 2026. But eight months later, lecturers say they’ve seen nothing but empty promises.
The union’s grievances include:
· Promotion arrears dating back to 2016
· Unpaid salaries for several months
· 21 months of withheld check-off dues
· Earned Academic Allowance unpaid since 2009
· Retention of the university under the Treasury Single Account—which the union calls “a complete erosion of university autonomy”
“Continued delay serves no useful purpose and only heightens industrial tension,” the union warned.
ASUU noted that the same agreement is already being implemented in state universities in Bauchi, Ekiti, Ogun, Osun, and Sokoto—leaving Imo lecturers asking: Why not us?
The union says it remains open to dialogue, but made one thing crystal clear:
“Our commitment to peaceful resolution should not be misconstrued as acquiescence to continued denial of our legitimate welfare rights.”
They’ve now called on the Imo State Government to act urgently, and appealed to stakeholders—traditional rulers, religious leaders, parents, and student unions—to pressure the university’s Visitor to intervene.
For now, lectures are off. And ASUU-IMSU says they won’t return until every kobo owed is paid.
