The Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have signed a fresh agreement to resolve long-standing disputes in Nigeria’s university system.
The 2025 deal seen by Dockaysworld, includes a 40 per cent pay review for academic staff, the introduction of a new Professorial Cadre Allowance, and reforms aimed at improving welfare, funding, university autonomy and academic freedom.
Speaking at the unveiling in Abuja on Wednesday, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the agreement reflects the commitment of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to stable academic calendars and improved lecturer welfare.
He described the pact as “renewed trust, restored confidence, and a decisive turning point in the history of Nigeria’s tertiary education system.”
Alausa said President Tinubu personally drove the process, noting 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.”
According to the minister, unresolved welfare and remuneration issues over the years led to repeated strikes that disrupted learning, but the government chose “dialogue over discord, reform over delay, and resolution over rhetoric.”
Under the agreement, academic staff salaries will be reviewed with effect from January 1, 2026, with a 40 per cent increase aimed at boosting morale and curbing brain drain.
The new salary structure will include the Consolidated University Academic Staff Salary and a Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance covering publications, conferences, internet access, learned society membership and books.
Alausa also announced that nine earned academic allowances have been restructured and will now be strictly tied to duties such as postgraduate supervision, fieldwork, clinical work, examinations and leadership roles.
A major highlight is the introduction of a Professorial Cadre Allowance. “For the first time, the Federal Government has approved a new Professorial Cadre Allowance,” the minister said.
He explained that Professors will earn ₦1.74m per annum, or ₦140,000 monthly, while Readers will receive ₦840,000 per annum, or ₦70,000 monthly, describing the move 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,” Alausa said.
He added that the agreement signals “a new era of stability, dignity, and excellence” for Nigerian universities and restores confidence in the academic calendar.
The minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to full implementation under the Renewed Hope Agenda and thanked members of both negotiating teams for resolving what he called “a two-decade-old quagmire.”
The agreement follows years of failed renegotiation efforts to review the 2009 FG–ASUU pact, which was due for revision in 2012.
Committees chaired by Wale Babalakin, Munzali Jibrin and Nimi Briggs under past administrations were unable to reach a final agreement.
Progress was recorded under the current administration with the inauguration of a Yayale Ahmed-led renegotiation committee in October 2024.
After about 14 months of talks, the parties reached consensus on reforms designed to reverse decay in the university system and reposition it for national development.
