The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Joint Campus Council, Ondo State Axis, has issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the Ondo State Government to intervene and secure the immediate resolution of the ongoing industrial action in the state-owned universities.
The students’ body, in a press statement signed by its Chairman, Comrade Adekanye Mayomi Adeboye, on September 6, 2026, said the strike had brought academic activities to a standstill at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, and Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa.
NANS said the prolonged industrial action had negatively affected thousands of students, disrupting academic activities, examinations, graduation plans and other programmes, while leaving the future of affected students uncertain.
The association noted that although the Federal Government had made commitments concerning the welfare of university workers and the national-level industrial dispute had been addressed, a similar sense of urgency was required from the Ondo State Government in resolving the crisis in its universities.
According to the students, NANS Ondo JCC had, since the commencement of the strike, pursued dialogue, consultation and diplomatic engagement with relevant stakeholders in an effort to resolve the dispute peacefully.
However, the association said it could no longer continue to watch while students’ academic pursuits remained suspended.
NANS also clarified that the industrial action was not limited to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), stressing that the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) had also joined the strike, thereby worsening the disruption of academic and administrative activities across the institutions.
The students’ body therefore demanded urgent intervention by Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa within 24 hours of receiving the ultimatum.
It warned that failure by the government to provide a “clear and satisfactory intervention” within the stipulated period would compel the association to mobilise students for a peaceful and massive protest in Akure.
NANS stressed that the proposed mobilisation was not a threat to the government but a peaceful expression of the frustration of thousands of students whose academic programmes had been disrupted.
The association urged the governor to deploy the authority and resources of the state to bring the affected parties to the negotiating table and secure the immediate resumption of academic activities.
“The students of Ondo State deserve to return to their classrooms. They deserve certainty about their academic future,” the statement said.
NANS maintained that it remained committed to peaceful engagement and constructive dialogue but insisted that the future of Ondo State students could no longer be left in limbo.
“24 hours is all we ask for action. The future of our students cannot wait,” the association declared.
