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Academic activities at the three Bayelsa State-owned universities may soon be disrupted as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened industrial action over the non-implementation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed with the Bayelsa State Government.
The union said the agreement, signed on December 23, 2025, and unveiled on January 14, 2026, has yet to be implemented despite repeated engagements with the state government.
Speaking at a press conference held at the Faculty of Law, Niger Delta University (NDU), representatives of ASUU branches in NDU, the University of Africa, Toru-Orua (UAT), and Bayelsa Medical University (BMU) accused the state government of failing to honour its commitments under the agreement.
The Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Port Harcourt Zone, Comrade Uzoma China, represented by the Chairman of NDU-ASUU, Comrade Oyinkepreye Lucky Bebeteidoh, said the union had consistently pursued dialogue to avoid industrial action but lamented that the government\'s response had been disappointing.
According to him, ASUU had written several letters and engaged relevant government officials on the need to implement the agreement, warning that continued delay could trigger an avoidable crisis in the state\'s university system.
He noted that the union had exhausted peaceful avenues of engagement, stressing that it appeared the government was only responding to the threat of academic disruption.
Bebeteidoh, alongside the chairmen of ASUU branches in BMU and UAT, expressed concern that negotiations, which began in January 2026, had failed to yield results, despite Bayelsa\'s financial capacity.
He pointed out that states such as Osun, Ogun, Ekiti, Benue, Bauchi and Sokoto had already begun implementing the agreement, despite having fewer financial resources than Bayelsa.
The union also clarified that the consolidated Academic Tools Allowance provided under the CBA is exclusively for university academic staff and not for civil servants or other categories of public employees.
ASUU urged Governor Douye Diri, who is the Visitor to the three universities, to direct the CBA Implementation Monitoring Committee to immediately commence implementation of the agreement to avert a strike.
The union also called on the governor to release the white paper on the reports of the visitation panels previously constituted to review the affairs of the state-owned universities, saying the reports had already been submitted.
