UNIMED ASUU rejects Ondo govt-AAUA agreement, sustains strike

By Boye Oyeyemi

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo, has rejected the agreement reached between the Ondo State Government and ASUU at Adekunle Ajasin University (AAUA), Akungba-Akoko, insisting that its members will remain on strike.

The ASUU-UNIMED Chairman, Abraham Oladebeye, said his chapter was not invited to the meeting where the agreement between the government and ASUU-AAUA was reached. He therefore maintained that the outcome of the meeting could not bind members of the union at UNIMED.

Oladebeye said the chapter also returned a letter subsequently sent by the state government because its contents did not reflect the resolutions reached during the union’s congress. He stressed that the chapter’s position remained unchanged until its concerns were addressed.

According to him, the government had earlier convened a meeting involving the affected unions, but the discussions ended with verbal assurances and a request for the institutions to submit documents outlining the financial implications of the proposed agreements.

However, Oladebeye explained that ASUU-AAUA was later invited to a separate meeting with the government, where a proposal was made to commence implementation in August and pay salary arrears covering January to July in two instalments before January 2027.

He also criticised what he described as “preferential financial intervention for AAUA,” arguing that similar support had not been extended to UNIMED. He said the disparity was one of the concerns informing the decision of the UNIMED chapter to reject the agreement.

Meanwhile, the ASUU-AAUA Chairman, Prof. Bolu Oshodi, said the financial intervention by the state government had paved the way for the union to convene a congress where members would be directed to resume academic activities. The development indicates a different position from that of the UNIMED chapter.

In a related development, the Joint Action Committee of Ondo State-owned tertiary institutions suspended its indefinite strike and directed members of SSANU, NASU and NAAT at AAUA, the Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology (OAUSTECH) and UNIMED to resume work on Tuesday, September 29. The committee, however, urged the institutions to continue discussions with the government on outstanding non-financial issues.