The Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities have concluded a renegotiated agreement aimed at ending decades of industrial unrest in Nigeria’s university system, with the deal introducing a 40 per cent salary increase for academic staff and a new allowance structure designed to address remuneration gaps and curb the exodus of lecturers from Nigerian institutions.
The 2025 agreement represents the outcome of a renegotiation process that began in 2017 to review the 2009 Federal Government–ASUU pact, which had been due for revision in 2012 but remained unresolved through successive administrations. Multiple committees established under previous governments, including those chaired by Wale Babalakin, Munzali Jibrin, and Nimi Briggs, failed to deliver a final agreement, leaving the issue festering and contributing to repeated strikes that paralysed academic activities across federal universities.
The breakthrough came under the current administration, which inaugurated the Yayale Ahmed-led renegotiation committee in October 2024. An agreement was reached approximately 14 months later, focusing on improved conditions of service, enhanced funding mechanisms, university autonomy, academic freedom, and broader reforms intended to reverse sectoral decay, stem the tide of brain drain, and reposition Nigerian universities for national development.
Speaking at the unveiling of the agreement in Abuja on Wednesday, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, described the deal as marking a renewed commitment by the administration of President Bola Tinubu to ensuring uninterrupted academic calendars and improved welfare for university lecturers across the country.
According to Alausa, the agreement transcends a formal document and represents “renewed trust, restored confidence, and a decisive turning point in the history of Nigeria’s tertiary education system.”
The minister credited President Tinubu with personally driving the process, stating that “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 noted that decades of unresolved remuneration issues and welfare gaps had led to recurring industrial actions that disrupted academic calendars and threatened the futures of students, but stressed that the current administration chose “dialogue over discord, reform over delay, and resolution over rhetoric.”
Outlining key provisions of the agreement, Alausa announced that the remuneration package of academic staff in federal tertiary institutions would be reviewed with effect from January 1, 2026. He disclosed that the emoluments of university academics would be increased by 40 per cent to enhance morale, improve service delivery, and curb the migration of qualified lecturers to institutions abroad.
Under the new structure, salaries will comprise the Consolidated University Academic Staff Salary and a Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance, representing a departure from previous remuneration frameworks that had been criticised by ASUU as inadequate and inconsistent with the demands of academic work.
Alausa explained that the 40 per cent review would be represented by the academic tools allowance, which covers journal publications, conference participation, internet access, learned society membership, and book allowances—expenses that lecturers have historically borne from their own pockets.
He also said nine earned academic allowances had been restructured to ensure transparency and fairness, adding that they would now be strictly tied to duties performed, including postgraduate supervision, fieldwork, clinical duties, examinations, and leadership responsibilities.
A major highlight of the agreement is the introduction of a new Professorial Cadre Allowance for senior academics. “For the first time, the Federal Government has approved a new Professorial Cadre Allowance,” Alausa said, stressing that it applies strictly to full-time Professors and Readers.
According to him, Professors will receive ₦1.74 million per annum, equivalent to ₦140,000 per month, while Readers will earn ₦840,000 per annum, or ₦70,000 per month. He described the intervention as “not cosmetic” but “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 ushered in “a new era of stability, dignity, and excellence” for Nigerian universities, restoring confidence to lecturers and predictability to academic calendars, which have been frequently disrupted by strikes over the past two decades.
The minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to 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 said.
The history of the Federal Government–ASUU agreement dates back to 1981, when the first national agreement was signed following a series of strikes over poor funding and deteriorating conditions in Nigerian universities. The 2009 agreement, signed during the administration of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, was intended to address issues of funding, welfare, and university autonomy, but successive governments failed to fully implement its provisions, leading to renewed agitations and protracted strikes, including a crippling eight-month strike in 2020 that brought university education to a standstill.
The repeated failure to honour agreements had deepened mistrust between ASUU and the government, with the union accusing successive administrations of treating tertiary education as a low priority. The intractability of the dispute contributed to prolonged academic sessions, declining research output, and the migration of Nigerian academics to universities in Ghana, South Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom, where better pay and working conditions are available.
The unveiling of the 2025 agreement comes at a time when Nigeria’s tertiary education sector faces mounting challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, poor funding, overcrowded lecture halls, and declining global rankings of Nigerian universities. Public universities have struggled to retain highly qualified staff, with many lecturers juggling multiple jobs to supplement their incomes or abandoning the profession entirely.
The agreement is expected to address some of these concerns, although its success will depend heavily on the government’s capacity and willingness to implement its provisions fully and promptly. Past governments have announced similar agreements, only for implementation to stall due to budgetary constraints or bureaucratic inertia, leading to renewed industrial action.
ASUU has historically been sceptical of government promises, insisting on concrete timelines and budgetary commitments before suspending strike actions. The union’s participation in the unveiling ceremony suggests cautious optimism, though its response to the agreement and any subsequent verification processes will be closely watched by stakeholders across the education sector.
The introduction of the Professorial Cadre Allowance and the restructuring of earned allowances represent significant departures from previous frameworks and reflect an acknowledgment by the government that academic work involves costs and responsibilities that extend beyond classroom teaching. However, questions remain about how the 40 per cent increase will be funded, particularly in the context of Nigeria’s constrained fiscal environment and competing demands on public resources.
The agreement also touches on broader issues of university autonomy and academic freedom, which have been perennial sources of tension between ASUU and government authorities. The extent to which the new framework addresses these concerns will likely shape the long-term stability of the tertiary education sector and determine whether the current agreement proves more durable than its predecessors.
