The Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Wednesday formally presented a newly renegotiated agreement designed to address long-standing disputes that have repeatedly disrupted Nigeria’s university system through strikes and prolonged closures.
The 2025 agreement concludes a renegotiation process that began in 2017 to review the 2009 FG–ASUU pact, which was originally scheduled for reassessment in 2012. Several earlier negotiation efforts under previous administrations—led by committees chaired by Wale Babalakin, Munzali Jibrin, and Nimi Briggs—failed to produce a final resolution.
Progress was eventually achieved under the current administration, which constituted a renegotiation committee headed by Yayale Ahmed in October 2024. About 14 months later, both parties reached a consensus.
The agreement focuses on improved conditions of service, enhanced funding, university autonomy, academic freedom, and broad reforms aimed at reversing institutional decline, reducing brain drain, and repositioning universities for national development.
One of the key provisions is a 40 per cent increase in the salaries of academic staff in federal universities, effective from January 1, 2026. Under the revised structure, remuneration will consist of the Consolidated University Academic Staff Salary and a newly introduced Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance, which accounts for the salary increment.
The tools allowance is intended to support essential academic activities such as research, journal publications, conference attendance, internet access, professional memberships, and book purchases, with the goal of improving productivity and retaining talent within the system.
The agreement also reorganises nine earned academic allowances to improve transparency and fairness by linking payments strictly to actual responsibilities, including postgraduate supervision, fieldwork, clinical duties, examination roles, and administrative leadership.
In a historic move, the Federal Government approved a new Professorial Cadre Allowance for senior academics. Under this arrangement, full professors will receive N1.74 million annually, while readers will earn N840,000 per year. The government described the measure as a structural reform aimed at recognising experience, restoring dignity, and strengthening the academic profession.
Speaking at the unveiling in Abuja, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the agreement reflects President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to stable academic calendars and improved welfare for university lecturers. He described the deal as a turning point that restores trust and confidence in Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
Alausa noted that President Tinubu personally drove the process, describing it as the first time a sitting president had taken full responsibility for resolving the prolonged crisis in the university sector. He said years of unresolved welfare issues had fuelled repeated industrial actions, but the current administration opted for dialogue, reform, and decisive resolution.
He added that the new Professional Cadre Allowance is not symbolic but a practical and transformative intervention, stressing that the agreement ushers in a new era of stability, dignity, and excellence in Nigerian universities. The minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to fully implementing the agreement under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
However, ASUU cautioned that despite the signing of the 2025 agreement, deep-rooted structural, governance, and socio-economic challenges still threaten the long-term sustainability of the university system.
ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, while acknowledging the government’s efforts, said the prolonged delay in renegotiating the agreement stemmed from what he described as a lack of sincerity by previous administrations. He noted that although the new deal is significant, it does not fully address persistent issues such as weak university autonomy, governance failures, inadequate research funding, declining academic standards, and the broader economic crisis.
The union identified government interference in university autonomy as a major unresolved concern, noting that governing councils are often dissolved or overruled by authorities, while merit-based recommendations are ignored in vice-chancellor appointments. According to ASUU, such practices undermine meritocracy, fuel internal conflicts, and weaken institutional credibility.
On funding, ASUU warned that research financing remains grossly inadequate and cautioned that without sustained investment, Nigerian universities risk becoming teaching-only institutions detached from innovation and national development. While the agreement provides for forwarding the National Research Council Bill to the National Assembly, ASUU expressed uncertainty about its implementation. The proposed bill seeks to allocate at least one per cent of GDP to research and development.
The union also criticised misleading narratives suggesting that funds are paid directly to ASUU, noting that accountability challenges within university administration remain unresolved. It cited allegations of corruption, financial recklessness, and contract irregularities involving some vice-chancellors as evidence of systemic governance weaknesses.
ASUU further raised concerns about declining academic standards in newly established Federal Universities of Education, accusing some administrators of promoting chief lecturers to professors without due process or approved guidelines.
Beyond the education sector, the union linked the success of the agreement to Nigeria’s worsening economic conditions, citing fuel subsidy removal, currency devaluation, rising costs of living, insecurity, unemployment, and increasing tuition fees. ASUU warned that unless these broader national challenges are addressed, the gains of the agreement could be eroded.
While expressing readiness to work with the government, ASUU said its confidence in the full implementation of the agreement remains cautious, given past experiences, but expressed hope that strike action would not be necessary to enforce compliance.
