The Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities on Wednesday unveiled a renegotiated agreement intended to draw a line under years of disputes that have repeatedly shut Nigeria’s public universities and disrupted academic calendars.

The 2025 agreement concludes a renegotiation process that began in 2017 to review the 2009 Federal Government–ASUU pact, which was originally due for revision in 2012. Multiple attempts under previous administrations failed, leaving the university system trapped in cycles of industrial action and uncertainty.

Several negotiation committees chaired by Wale Babalakin, Munzali Jibrin and Nimi Briggs were unable to deliver a final outcome. The breakthrough came under the current administration, which inaugurated a fresh renegotiation committee led by Yayale Ahmed in October 2024. About 14 months later, both sides reached consensus on a framework covering staff welfare, funding, university autonomy and academic freedom, alongside broader reforms aimed at reversing institutional decline and slowing the loss of academic talent to other countries.

A central feature of the new agreement is a 40 per cent upward review of salaries for academic staff in federal universities, scheduled to take effect from January 1, 2026. Under the revised pay structure, remuneration will combine the Consolidated University Academic Staff Salary with a new Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance, which accounts for the full increment.

According to the agreement, the tools allowance is designed to support essential academic work, including research activities, journal publications, conference attendance, internet access, professional memberships and book purchases. Government officials say the aim is to directly link improved pay to productivity and to address one of the drivers of brain drain from the university system.

The deal also restructures nine earned academic allowances, with payments now tied strictly to duties actually performed. These cover responsibilities such as postgraduate supervision, fieldwork, clinical duties, examination roles and leadership positions within universities, a move both parties say is meant to improve transparency and fairness.

For the first time, the Federal Government also approved a Professorial Cadre Allowance for senior academics. Under this provision, full professors will receive N1.74 million annually, while readers will earn N840,000 per year. The government described the measure as a structural intervention to recognise experience, enhance professional dignity and strengthen the academic career path.

Unveiling the agreement in Abuja, Minister of Education Dr Tunji Alausa said the deal reflected a renewed commitment by the administration of President Bola Tinubu to stable academic calendars and improved welfare for lecturers. He said decades of unresolved pay and welfare issues had fuelled repeated strikes that threatened students’ futures, adding that the current government deliberately chose negotiation over confrontation.

Alausa credited President Tinubu with personally driving the process, saying it was the first time a sitting president had taken direct ownership of the long-running dispute. He described the professorial allowance as a practical and transformative step rather than a symbolic gesture, and pledged faithful implementation of the agreement under the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

According to the minister, the pact signals a new phase of predictability for universities and confidence for staff, while restoring trust between government and academics. He thanked members of both negotiation teams for resolving what he called a two-decade-old impasse.

ASUU, however, struck a more cautious tone. While acknowledging the significance of the agreement, the union warned that deep-seated structural, governance and socio-economic problems continue to threaten the sustainability of Nigeria’s university system.

Speaking at the event, ASUU President Prof. Chris Piwuna said the prolonged renegotiation itself reflected what he described as a lack of sincerity by successive governments. He noted that the 2009 agreement was meant to be reviewed after three years, but lingered for more than a decade.

Piwuna said the new deal does not fully resolve persistent challenges such as government interference in university autonomy, weak accountability within university management, poor implementation of research funding and declining academic standards, all compounded by Nigeria’s wider economic difficulties.

He identified encroachment on university autonomy as one of the most serious unresolved issues. While autonomy is recognised in principle and partially entrenched in law, he said its practical application remains weak. Governing councils, which are legally the highest decision-making bodies in universities, are often dissolved or suspended by authorities, and their recommendations frequently overridden.

According to ASUU, vice-chancellor appointment processes are sometimes skewed by political interests, with preferred candidates imposed despite not emerging as the best-ranked by selection panels. Piwuna said such interventions erode meritocracy, create legitimacy crises and often lead to prolonged internal conflicts and litigation. He also warned about the growing reliance on acting vice-chancellors across the system.

On funding, the union said that although the agreement includes provisions related to research and development, chronic underfunding remains a major concern. ASUU warned that without sustained investment, universities risk becoming teaching-only institutions detached from innovation and national development.

The union pointed to the proposed National Research Council Bill, which the agreement provides should be forwarded to the National Assembly. The bill would allocate at least one per cent of GDP to research, innovation and development, but ASUU said its passage and implementation remain uncertain and urged lawmakers to act quickly.

ASUU also pushed back against claims that government funds are released directly to the union, describing such narratives as misleading. It said it has limited tools to enforce accountability within universities beyond strikes, petitions and public advocacy, even as allegations of corruption, contract irregularities and financial recklessness continue to surface against some vice-chancellors.

The union criticised what it called a growing “consultancy syndrome,” alleging that consultants are increasingly used to manage university finances in ways that obscure accountability. It said the education ministry itself is not exempt from this practice.

Another concern raised was the erosion of academic standards in newly created Federal Universities of Education converted from colleges of education. ASUU accused some institutions of promoting chief lecturers to professors without due process, even where senates or approved promotion guidelines are absent. The union stressed that the ranks of chief lecturer and professor are not equivalent and that professorial appointments require established benchmarks, including research output and postgraduate supervision.

Beyond campus issues, ASUU linked the durability of the agreement to Nigeria’s broader economic and social conditions. The union cited the effects of fuel subsidy removal, naira devaluation, rising transport costs, insecurity and unemployment, arguing that these pressures have reduced access to higher education for working- and middle-class families despite the introduction of student loan schemes.

Piwuna also highlighted the decline in real wages, noting that increases in the minimum wage have been eroded by inflation and currency depreciation. He warned that insecurity, multiple taxation and uncertainty over tax laws continue to worsen living conditions, while describing the health sector as having effectively collapsed.

ASUU concluded by cautioning that without addressing these wider national challenges, the gains of the renegotiated agreement could be undermined. While expressing willingness to work with the government, the union said its optimism remains guarded, given past experiences, and voiced hope that it would not need to resort to strike action to ensure full implementation of the 2025 agreement.