Academic activities at the University of Delta (UNIDEL), Agbor have been completely paralysed as it enters day one of the two-week warning strike declared by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The Guardian’s checks across lecture halls and departmental offices on Monday revealed deserted classrooms, locked offices, and abandoned lectures — clear signs that the strike has taken full effect.

Speaking with The Guardian, Chairman of the UNIDEL ASUU branch, Comrade Desmond Oghogho Ekokotu, described the action as “total and very, very effective,” insisting that lecturers across all faculties complied fully with the directive from the national body.

“We are not perturbed by the Federal Government’s threat of ‘no work, no pay,’” Ekokotu said. “We are used to such intimidation. The law is there; their warning is a joke and cannot hold water. They are on their own.”

The ASUU branch leader maintained that the strike became inevitable following the Federal Government’s continued neglect of previous agreements, including unpaid earned academic allowances, poor funding of universities, and the non-implementation of the renegotiated 2009 agreement.

A concerned educationist, who did not want his name mentioned, accused the Federal Government of deliberately undermining public universities while promoting private tertiary institutions owned by politicians and their cronies.

“Public institutions are not working, structures collapsing with obsolete equipment, unpaid arrears for lecturers, and no motivation. Yet they send their children abroad and to private universities. Enough is enough,” he stated.

The industrial action, which has already disrupted academic schedules, has thrown thousands of students into uncertainty, with many expressing frustration over the frequent disruptions to their academic calendars.