The collateral effects of strike actions by academic staff in public universities in South West Nigeria were investigated through descriptive research design. An instrument tagged Perception of Undergraduates on the Influence of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Strike Actions Questionnaire (PUIASAQ) was used for data collection. A study sample of 490 undergraduates was selected through purposive and simple random sampling techniques from seven universities in South West geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Four research questions were raised with two hypotheses generated. The outcome of the study revealed both negative and positive impacts of ASUU strike on the undergraduates while gender of undergraduates and institutional ownership had no significant influence on undergraduates’ perception. It was recommended that causes of strike actions must be nipped in bud with granting of full autonomy to these universities while tax holidays should be given to private investors to finance universities.

The paper examined the state of the academic staffing situation in Nigerian Public Universities with various factors constraining their professional development. Funding was identified as a major factor with attendant consequences such as brain drain, academic staff deficit, structural imbalance in the distribution of academic staff and inadequate capacity-building programmes for their staff. The paper observed that most Nigerian universities lack the framework for internal staff development programmes for their academic staff. Various internal capacity building programmes that could be organized using senior academic staff within these universities were proposed. The paper identified professional development programmes in four world-class universities as models that could be adapted by Nigerian universities. The paper concluded that available potentials for academic staff development within Nigerian Public Universities remain largely untapped.