The Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have unveiled a renegotiated agreement aimed at ending long-standing disputes in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector.
The 2025 agreement is the result of a renegotiation process that began in 2017 to review the 2009 Federal Government–ASUU pact, which was due for revision in 2012. Previous committees under past administrations, chaired by Wale Babalakin, Munzali Jibrin, and Nimi Briggs, failed to deliver a final resolution.
The breakthrough came under the current administration, which inaugurated the Yayale Ahmed-led renegotiation committee in October 2024. After 14 months of discussions, the parties agreed on reforms focusing on improved conditions of service, funding, university autonomy, academic freedom, and broader measures to reverse sectoral decay, curb brain drain, and reposition universities for national development.
Speaking at the unveiling in Abuja on Wednesday, Minister of Education Dr. Tunji Alausa described the deal as a “renewed trust, restored confidence, and a decisive turning point in the history of Nigeria’s tertiary education system.”
Alausa credited President Bola Tinubu for personally driving the process. “For the first time in the history of our country, a sitting President took full ownership of this long-standing challenge confronting our tertiary education system and accorded it the leadership attention it truly deserved,” he said.
He noted that decades of unresolved remuneration issues and welfare gaps had led to recurring strikes that disrupted academic calendars, but the current administration chose “dialogue over discord, reform over delay, and resolution over rhetoric.”
Key provisions of the agreement include a review of the remuneration package for academic staff in federal tertiary institutions, effective January 1, 2026. University academics will receive a 40 per cent increase in emoluments to boost morale, improve service delivery, and curb brain drain.
Under the new structure, salaries will comprise the Consolidated University Academic Staff Salary and a Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance. The academic tools allowance will cover journal publications, conference participation, internet access, learned society membership, and book allowances. Nine earned academic allowances have also been restructured to ensure fairness, tying them strictly to duties such as postgraduate supervision, fieldwork, clinical responsibilities, examinations, and leadership roles.
A major highlight is the introduction of a new Professorial Cadre Allowance for senior academics. Professors will receive ₦1.74 million per year (₦140,000 per month), while Readers will earn ₦840,000 per year (₦70,000 per month). Alausa described the intervention as “structural, practical, and transformative.”
“With the total support, direction, and guidance of Mr President, we confronted what many had described as an intractable problem—and we have resolved it decisively, now and into the future,” the minister said.
He added that the agreement ushers in “a new era of stability, dignity, and excellence” for Nigerian universities, restoring confidence among lecturers and predictability to academic calendars.
Alausa reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the faithful implementation of the agreement under the Renewed Hope Agenda and thanked members of both the government and ASUU renegotiating teams for resolving what he described as a “two-decade-old quagmire.”
“History will remember today not merely as an unveiling ceremony, but as the day Nigeria chose dialogue, transparency, fiscal realism, and strong Presidential commitment as the pathway to resolving long-standing governance challenges and achieving sustained progress,” he concluded.
