The indefinite strike by lecturers at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), may linger, as the institution’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused the Ondo State Government of abandoning the university to decay.

ASUU-AAUA, which declared the strike in August over two months of unpaid salaries and other arrears, said the state government has failed to honour agreements reached during previous meetings.

Addressing journalists in Akure on Friday, the union’s chairman, Comrade Boluwaji Oshodi, flanked by other executives, lamented that the university—once regarded as the pride of the state—has suffered seven years of neglect.

According to him, the crisis is rooted in poor funding, worsened by the government’s refusal to release capital grants despite yearly budgetary allocations by the Ondo State House of Assembly.

“It may amaze you to know that the state government has not released a kobo as a capital grant to the university for the past seven years,” Oshodi said.

“The Assembly appropriates capital grants for AAUA every year. The question is: what happens to this money?”

He listed the challenges facing the institution to include deplorable access roads, dilapidated lecture halls, leaking roofs in the Faculties of Arts and Education, and abandoned projects.

“The Faculty of Arts building, for example, has its inner roof caved in. Staff on the second floor have deserted their offices because they get flooded whenever it rains. The Faculty of Education is facing a similar crisis,” Oshodi noted.

The union also blamed the government’s policy of excluding AAUA from TETFund interventions, describing it as a major setback for infrastructure development.

ASUU criticised the state for running four universities despite failing to adequately fund one.

“This proliferation of universities without corresponding funding is killing quality education in Ondo,” Oshodi said.

The union accused the Ondo State Assembly of shirking its oversight responsibility, thereby enabling the executive to starve AAUA of funds.

ASUU warned that unless urgent steps are taken, the university could collapse under the weight of unpaid salaries, unremitted taxes, and worsening infrastructure.