ASUU raises alarm over brain drain, says 309 professors have left public universities

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expressed concern over the growing exodus of senior academics from Nigeria’s public universities, revealing that at least 309 professors have resigned in the past nine months to seek better opportunities abroad.

ASUU Zonal Chairman for Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, and Katsina States, Professor Abubakar Sabo, made this known on Saturday during a town hall meeting organised by the ASUU branch of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, held at the institution’s City Campus.

Sabo described the situation as a worsening “intellectual haemorrhage” that poses a serious threat to the survival of public universities, noting that many lecturers have relocated to countries such as the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Cameroon.

“Since our last industrial action, we have lost about 309 professors—some to private universities in Nigeria and others to foreign institutions. Our intellectual resources are being depleted because the conditions of service are no longer attractive enough to retain scholars,” he said.

He warned that the union might embark on a two-week warning strike if the Federal Government continues to ignore its demands on funding, earned allowances, and improved working conditions.

“We have exercised enough patience. Our responsibility is to protect public universities. If the government continues to neglect us, we will not watch the system crumble,” Sabo stated.

He accused the Federal Government of stalling negotiations despite receiving the Yayale Ahmed Committee report in January 2025. “When we issued a two-week ultimatum, the government responded only by making phone calls and inviting other tertiary unions, such as those of polytechnics and colleges of education, in an attempt to complicate the process. This is a strategy to stretch the education budget and frustrate our struggle,” he alleged.

Sabo reiterated that ASUU’s key demands include better remuneration, full implementation of past agreements, respect for university autonomy, and adequate funding to restore standards in the education sector.

In his remarks, ASUU-UDUS Chairperson, Professor Muhammad Almustapha, said the town hall meeting was organised to draw public attention to the worsening state of Nigerian universities and the government’s persistent failure to fulfil its promises.

“Over the years, ASUU has unfortunately become synonymous with strikes because the government rarely honours agreements. It has been a recurring cycle of broken promises and lost hope,” he said.

The meeting, which was attended by lecturers, students, civil society groups, and media representatives, concluded with a call for urgent action to halt the brain drain and save Nigeria’s public universities from total collapse.

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ASUU and the Federal Government have a long history of unfulfilled agreements, including the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement and the 2020 Memorandum of Action, which the union says have been repeatedly ignored or only partially implemented.

The union has staged several prolonged strikes over the years, including the eight-month strike in 2022, which disrupted the academic calendar. ASUU maintains that industrial action remains its most effective tool to compel government attention.

Rising inflation and the weakening naira have further eroded the value of academic salaries, making it increasingly difficult for senior scholars to sustain themselves, thereby accelerating the rate of brain drain.