The Federal Government has scheduled Wednesday, January 14, 2026, for the formal signing of an agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, bringing to a close weeks of intense negotiations that may finally end a 16-year cycle of industrial unrest in Nigeria’s university system.
The signing ceremony, set for 11:00 a.m. at the Tertiary Education Trust Fund Conference Hall in Abuja, is expected to formalise the 40 per cent salary increase for academic staff proposed by the Federal Government last month and accepted by the union.
A circular issued by the Ministry of Education invited Vice-Chancellors and Registrars of federal universities to witness the ceremony, describing it as a critical milestone in promoting industrial harmony and improving teaching and learning in the nation’s universities.
The circular, dated January 5, 2026, and referenced FME/IS/UNI/ASUU/C.11/Vol.V/82, was signed by Rakiya Ilyasu, Director of University Education, on behalf of the Minister of Education. It was sighted by correspondents on Saturday and confirmed by Boriowo Folasade, Director of Press and Public Relations at the ministry.
“This signing represents a critical milestone in promoting industrial harmony and improving teaching and learning in our universities. It also reaffirms the Federal Government’s commitment to the sustainable development of education in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu,” the circular stated.
Attendance at the ceremony was declared mandatory for all invited university administrators, underscoring the significance the government has attached to the agreement and its implementation.
The agreement set to be signed builds on the salary increase proposal accepted by ASUU last month. The deal, effective from January 1, 2026, is to be reviewed after three years, according to reports.
Under the new terms, professors will earn a pension equivalent to their final annual salary upon retirement at age 70, a provision aimed at addressing long-standing complaints about poor conditions of service for senior academics in the country.
The agreement also provides for the establishment of a National Research Council to fund research with at least one per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, a demand that has featured prominently in ASUU’s negotiations with successive administrations. The union has consistently argued that inadequate research funding has undermined the quality of tertiary education in Nigeria and stifled academic innovation.
Other provisions include improved funding for libraries, laboratories, equipment, and staff development, as well as greater university autonomy. The pact also guarantees the election of academic leaders, with only professors eligible to serve as deans and provosts, a measure intended to strengthen academic governance and reduce external interference in university administration.
Importantly, the agreement includes a clause guaranteeing that no staff member involved in past industrial actions will be victimised, a safeguard that addresses one of the union’s longstanding concerns about reprisals against members who participated in strikes and other forms of protest.
The roots of the current agreement trace back to 2009, when the Federal Government and ASUU signed a comprehensive agreement aimed at addressing systemic challenges in Nigeria’s university system. That agreement, negotiated under the administration of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, included commitments on funding, infrastructure, staff welfare, and university autonomy.
However, successive governments struggled to implement the agreement, leading to repeated strikes by ASUU and prolonged disruptions to academic calendars across federal universities. The union has embarked on at least eight major strikes since 2009, some lasting several months, in protest over the government’s failure to honour the terms of the agreement.
The most recent and most protracted of these strikes occurred in 2022, when ASUU members stayed away from classrooms for eight months, demanding the implementation of agreements on salary payments, funding, and the adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution, a payment platform developed by the union to replace the government’s Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
The strikes have had devastating effects on students, many of whom have spent extra years in university due to academic disruptions, and on the quality of education, with deteriorating infrastructure, underfunding, and poor staff morale becoming persistent features of the Nigerian university system.
The 2009 agreement promised a renegotiation of salaries and conditions of service, improved funding for universities, and the revitalisation of infrastructure. However, delays in implementation and disputes over the terms of renegotiation kept the union and the government locked in conflict for over a decade.
The signing ceremony scheduled for Wednesday represents a potential turning point in the troubled relationship between the Federal Government and ASUU. However, past experience has made both the union and the wider public cautious about celebrating prematurely.
Previous agreements have been signed with much fanfare, only to be poorly implemented or abandoned altogether. ASUU has repeatedly accused successive governments of lacking the political will to prioritise education, and of treating agreements as temporary measures to end strikes rather than as binding commitments.
The current administration, under President Bola Tinubu, has framed the agreement as part of its Renewed Hope Agenda, which includes promises to reform and revitalise key sectors, including education. Whether the government will follow through on the terms of the agreement, and whether ASUU will accept the pace and scope of implementation, will determine whether this marks the end of the 16-year crisis or merely another chapter in it.
For now, the focus is on Wednesday’s ceremony, which both sides appear to have invested significant symbolic and political capital in. The mandatory attendance of university administrators suggests that the government is treating the event as a showcase of its commitment to education reform.
The agreement, if fully implemented, could bring much-needed stability to Nigeria’s federal universities, improve the welfare of academic staff, and enhance the quality of teaching and research. It could also restore confidence in the government’s ability to negotiate and honour agreements with labour unions in critical sectors.
