By Oyewole O, Sarumi
The recent signing of the renegotiated agreement between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) stands as a monumental achievement in the nation’s recent history.
It represents a decisive and laudable break from a decades-long cycle of industrial discord that has, for too long, held the nation’s intellectual future hostage.
This landmark pact, which finally retires the moribund 2009 agreement, is a testament to what can be accomplished when dialogue, political will, and a shared vision for national development supplant entrenched antagonism.
The current administration deserves significant commendation for steering this complex negotiation to a successful conclusion, demonstrating a clear understanding that a nation’s development is inextricably linked to the health of its tertiary education system.
This agreement is not merely a document; it is a covenant with Nigeria’s youth, its academic community, and its future. However, the true measure of this success will not be found in the elegance of the signed text, but in the robustness, fidelity, and timeliness of its execution.
The Federal Government must now rise to the even greater challenge: to bridge the perennial execution gaps of the past with unwavering action, ensuring that this hard-won consensus translates into tangible, enduring progress on our university campuses.
From Brinkmanship to Breakthrough: The Anatomy of a Historic Accord
The journey to this point has been arduous, characterized by serial strikes, lost academic years, and a profound erosion of public trust in the university system.
The 2009 agreement had long become a source of friction rather than a framework for harmony, its unresolved clauses fueling a ritual of industrial action that punished students and demoralised dedicated academics.
The renegotiation process, which formally commenced in 2017 and gained critical momentum under the Yayale Ahmed-led committee inaugurated in late 2024, was therefore a necessary undertaking.
The signing ceremony itself, presided over by the Ministers of Education and Labour, symbolised a collective sigh of relief and a conscious turning of the page.
The significance of this moment cannot be overstated. For the first time in a generation, Nigeria’s public universities have a contemporary, comprehensive framework that promises predictability. It offers students the hope of unbroken academic calendars, parents the assurance of planned investments in their children’s education, and lecturers a pathway to professional dignity.
The administration’s shift from a posture of perceived hostility, a hallmark of the recent past where erstwhile allies of academia became its most formidable adversaries, to one of negotiation and compromise is a masterstroke in conflict resolution. It acknowledges that the university system is not an adversary to be subdued but a partner to be nurtured for national advancement.
Deconstructing the Pillars: A Closer Look at the Agreement’s Core Provisions
The new agreement is a multifaceted document addressing the core issues that have underpinned the union’s agitations. Its provisions can be broadly categorized into conditions of service, systemic funding, and institutional governance.
- The Remuneration Revolution: Beyond the 40% Headline
The most publicized element is the 40% increase in academic staff emoluments, effective from January 2026, anchored on the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA). This is a substantial and necessary correction. The value of academic salaries had been catastrophically eroded by years of inflation and currency devaluation, rendering the profession economically unsustainable and fueling a crippling brain drain. The introduction of a distinct professorial cadre allowance, reportedly set at approximately N140,000 monthly for full professors and about N70,000 for readers (associate professors), is a strategic move. It formally recognises the extra administrative, mentoring, and intellectual leadership burdens borne by senior academics and institutional leaders.
Furthermore, the restructuring of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) to be strictly tied to verifiable duties, such as postgraduate supervision, intense fieldwork, or research coordination, shifts the paradigm from entitlement to reward for specific, high-value academic labour. This aligns compensation more closely with productivity and responsibility. Analysis of the new structure suggests that a senior professor could see their total monthly package rise to a range between N1 million and N1.1 million. This is a significant leap in nominal terms and a vital step towards restoring the purchasing power and dignity of the academic.
- The Pension Paradigm: Securing the Academic Twilight
Perhaps one of the most transformative aspects of the agreement is the provision guaranteeing professors who retire at the statutory age of 70 a pension benefit equivalent to their full annual salary. This is a profound intervention. For decades, the spectre of retiring into financial uncertainty haunted even the most distinguished professors, undermining the appeal of an academic career and casting a pall over a lifetime of service. This guarantee sends a powerful, reassuring signal to the entire academic community: dedicating one’s life to scholarship and teaching within Nigeria will be met with security and honour at the journey’s end. It is a critical tool for retaining senior expertise and providing a compelling narrative for younger academics to build their careers at home.
However, this laudable provision carries a significant caveat that demands meticulous attention. Pension experts and reports have rightly flagged that such a guaranteed benefit model bears resemblance to the old defined-benefit system, which Nigeria abandoned due to its fiscal unsustainability. The Federal Government must, as a matter of urgency, work with the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) and other stakeholders to design a transparent, viable, and legally sound funding mechanism for this promise. Without this, a future crisis is inevitable, where noble intentions collide with budgetary realities, potentially sparking a new cycle of conflict. This provision must be insulated from political whims and anchored in sustainable financial planning.
- Institutionalizing Innovation: The National Research Council Vision
A truly forward-thinking element of the pact is the commitment to establish a National Research Council, with proposed funding pegged at not less than one percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is potentially revolutionary. Nigerian research has too long been shackled by ad-hoc grants, donor-driven agendas, and a crippling lack of core, predictable funding. Embedding research financing into national planning represents a paradigm shift. It acknowledges that innovation is not a luxury but the very engine of economic diversification, technological advancement, and societal problem-solving.
If properly constituted and insulated from bureaucracy, the Council could systematically fund doctoral training, refurbish dilapidated laboratories and libraries, support blue-skies and applied research, and finally position Nigerian universities as genuine producers of globally competitive knowledge. This move directly tackles the root of “brain drain,” by creating an environment where intellectual curiosity can be pursued with adequate resources at home.
- Autonomy, Governance, and the Challenge of Internal Accountability
The agreement reaffirms commitments to university autonomy and academic freedom, crucial for insulating institutions from political interference in appointments, curriculum development, and internal governance. This is essential for restoring the intellectual integrity of the academy. However, as the ASUU leadership itself alluded to during the signing, the agreement’s success is partially contingent on strengthening internal governance. Concerns were raised about promotion practices in some institutions that compromise established standards, and about weak governance structures that enable mismanagement and undermine accountability.
This presents a critical, complementary challenge. While the government must honour autonomy, the academic community must embrace rigorous self-regulation.
The new era of improved funding must be matched by an unwavering commitment to excellence, integrity, and accountability within the universities.
Promotion must be based on meritorious scholarship, not connections or publications in predatory journals. Lecturers must be held to the highest standards of teaching commitment and research ethics.
Students deserve and must receive the full measure of instruction they pay for and are promised. The culture of absenteeism from lectures, as regrettably still reported by students, must become an unforgivable anomaly. The agreement provides the resources; the academic community must supply an uncompromising dedication to its core missions of teaching, research, and service.
The Continental Context: A Step Forward, But the Journey Continues
While the salary increases are substantial within the Nigerian context, a sober continental comparison is necessary to manage expectations regarding the immediate halt of brain drain.
Prior to this agreement, a Nigerian professor’s salary was among the least competitive in Africa. The new scales, while markedly improved, still place Nigeria in a catching-up position.
Comparative analysis shows that professors in South Africa earn multiples of what their Nigerian counterparts will now receive, even post-increase. Remuneration in Kenya, Ghana, Egypt, and several North African nations also remains more attractive in hard currency terms.
Therefore, while the new package is a vital and praiseworthy step that will slow the haemorrhage of talent, it is part of a necessary continuum, not a final destination.
The long-term strategy to make Nigerian academia a net importer of talent must combine continued competitive remuneration with the intangible benefits this agreement also promotes: world-class research facilities (via the Research Council), a stable academic calendar, intellectual freedom, and a dignified retirement. The salary increase addresses immediate survival; the other provisions aim to build a thriving ecosystem.
The Road Ahead: From Signing Ceremony to Sustainable Transformation
The euphoria of the signing must now be channeled into the arduous work of implementation. History is replete with beautifully crafted agreements that languished in the drawers of bureaucracy. To avoid this fate, a clear, time-bound, and transparent implementation roadmap is non-negotiable.
- The Funding Imperative: The Federal Government must proactively provision for the increased wage bill and the new allowances in the 2026 budget and beyond. The establishment and capitalisation of the National Research Council must be treated as a national priority. TETFund’s role should be strengthened and aligned with the new framework to ensure coordinated, strategic investment in infrastructure and staff development.
- Institutionalizing Dialogue: The agreement should not be the last conversation for another decade. The proposed mechanism for periodic review must be activated religiously. This creates a permanent forum for addressing emergent issues before they escalate, fostering a culture of continuous improvement rather than crisis management.
- A Shared Responsibility: While government bears the primary burden of funding, university administrations and ASUU must be partners in accountability. Universities must demonstrate prudent, transparent management of increased resources. ASUU, as the guardian of its members’ welfare, must also be a champion of academic excellence and professional ethics among its ranks. The union’s internal voice should be as strong in advocating for teaching quality and research integrity as it is in advocating for better pay.
- The Student at the Centre: Ultimately, the success of this agreement will be judged by one primary metric: the quality of the educational experience and employability of the Nigerian graduate. All stakeholders must keep this objective front and centre. This means not just reopening classrooms, but ensuring they are spaces of vibrant, uninterrupted, and high-quality intellectual engagement.
A Covenant with the Future or What?
The 2025 FG-ASUU agreement is a landmark achievement worthy of comprehensive commendation. It reflects a mature negotiation where both sides conceded ground for a greater good. The Federal Government has demonstrated commendable leadership in seeing this through. ASUU has shown a measured pragmatism in securing vital gains for its members and the system at large.
This pact is more than a settlement; it is a national covenant. It is a promise to students that their dreams will not be deferred by incessant strikes. It is a promise to academics that their labour will be valued and their twilight years secured. It is a promise to the nation that its universities will be revitalized as engines of development.
However, a covenant is only as strong as the commitment to uphold it. The ink drying on the document is the end of the beginning. The true work of rebuilding, of faithful implementation, of financial diligence, of academic renewal, now begins.
Let this moment be remembered not as another false dawn, but as the definitive turning point where Nigeria chose to invest in its greatest resource: the minds of its people.
The Federal Government and ASUU have written a promising new chapter; it is now incumbent on all to ensure the story that follows is one of sustained progress and national renaissance.
