The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka chapter, on Tuesday joined the nationwide protest, decrying that lecturers have remained on the same salary scale for 16 years despite worsening economic conditions.

The lecturers, led by branch chairman Innocent Nnubia, blocked sections of the Enugu-Awka-Onitsha Expressway and staged a march across the university campus. They carried placards with inscriptions such as “End poverty salary now,” “FG stop deceiving us,” and “We don’t want loans, pay us our money.”

Nnubia criticised the federal government for failing to implement the renegotiated 2009 Agreement, which was due for renewal in 2012, describing the situation as “a show of shame.”

“As of 2009, a professor earned about $3,000 monthly, but today it is less than $400. This is pitiable and unacceptable,” he said.

The union also demanded the release of three and a half months’ withheld salaries from the 2022 strike, payment of outstanding 25–35% salary arrears, settlement of over four years’ promotion arrears, improved and sustainable funding for universities, and an end to the victimisation of members in some institutions.

They further accused the government of failing to remit third-party deductions such as cooperative contributions, describing it as “a criminal act to withhold workers’ money.”

ASUU warned that it could no longer guarantee industrial harmony if the federal government continued to ignore its demands.

Meanwhile, the Acting Vice-Chancellor of UNIZIK, Prof. Carol Arinze-Umobi, represented by Council Member Pius Okoye, commended the lecturers for conducting a peaceful protest and assured them that their grievances would be conveyed to the appropriate authorities.