FG, ASUU reach historic deal as lecturers get 40% pay rise, new professorial allowance

The Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have reached a landmark agreement aimed at ending decades of industrial disputes in Nigeria’s university system, with lecturers set to receive a 40 per cent salary increase and professors earning a new monthly allowance of over ₦140,000.

The 2025 agreement, unveiled in Abuja on Wednesday, brings to an end a 16-year stalemate over the renegotiation of the 2009 FG–ASUU agreement and is expected to usher in improved welfare, increased funding and greater stability across federal universities.

Under the deal, academic staff remuneration will be reviewed upward by 40 per cent with effect from January 1, 2026. Salaries will now comprise the Consolidated University Academic Staff Salary and a new Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance, designed to support core academic activities such as research, journal publications, conference participation, internet access and book procurement.

A major highlight of the agreement is the introduction of a Professorial Cadre Allowance for senior academics for the first time. Under this provision, full professors will receive ₦1.74 million annually, amounting to over ₦140,000 monthly, while readers will earn ₦840,000 per annum.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, who formally presented the agreement, described it as a historic milestone and a clear demonstration of President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to uninterrupted academic calendars and improved welfare for lecturers.

Speaking earlier on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Alausa said the Federal Government had secured the funding required to fully implement the agreement, including the 40 per cent salary increase and nine restructured Earned Academic Allowances.

“A professor will now receive a monthly top-up of over ₦140,000. President Tinubu has created a new category of allowance for academic staff — the professorial cadre allowance — as an enhanced additional package,” the minister said.

“Today, we have the funding to support the 40 per cent salary increase granted to lecturers across all tertiary institutions, as well as the nine enhanced Earned Academic Allowances, which are now clearly structured.”

According to Alausa, the Earned Academic Allowances have been redesigned to promote transparency and fairness by tying payments strictly to duties performed. These include postgraduate supervision, fieldwork, clinical responsibilities, examination duties and leadership roles within the university system.

He assured that implementation had already commenced, revealing that the necessary circular backing the welfare components of the agreement had been released after consultations between the President and the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission in December.

“When we were negotiating, the President made it clear that he would not approve an agreement he could not implement. Once he was convinced that the funding was available, he gave his approval,” Alausa said.

He described the deal as more than a formal document, calling it “a renewed trust, restored confidence and a decisive turning point in the history of Nigeria’s tertiary education system.”

The renegotiation process, which began in 2017, had stalled under previous administrations despite several committees led by Wale Babalakin, Munzali Jibrin and Nimi Briggs. The breakthrough came under the current administration following the inauguration of the Yayale Ahmed-led committee in October 2024, culminating in an agreement about 14 months later.

The deal also addresses broader reforms, including improved funding, university autonomy, academic freedom and measures to curb brain drain and reposition universities for national development.

Reacting, ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, welcomed the agreement but cautioned that deep-rooted structural, governance and socio-economic challenges still threaten the sustainability of Nigeria’s university system.

He noted that the prolonged delay in concluding the renegotiation was due to what he described as a “poverty of sincerity” by successive governments.

“The 2009 agreement was due for renegotiation after three years, but it dragged on for over a decade because of lack of genuine commitment,” Piwuna said.

While acknowledging the significance of the new deal, ASUU warned that unresolved issues such as government interference in university autonomy, weak accountability in university management, poor research funding and declining academic standards remain major concerns.

Piwuna said governing councils, which are legally the highest decision-making bodies in universities, are often arbitrarily dissolved, while vice-chancellor appointment processes are sometimes skewed to favour political interests.

“Such interventions erode meritocracy and create legitimacy crises, leading to internal conflicts, litigation and staff polarisation,” he said.

On funding, ASUU stressed that although the agreement provides for research and development, implementation remains uncertain. The union urged the National Assembly to urgently pass the proposed National Research Council Bill, which seeks to allocate at least one per cent of GDP to research, innovation and development.

The union also raised concerns about declining academic standards in newly created federal universities converted from colleges of education, warning against the promotion of chief lecturers to professorship without due process.

Beyond the education sector, ASUU linked the sustainability of the agreement to Nigeria’s broader economic challenges, citing fuel subsidy removal, naira devaluation, rising costs of living, insecurity and declining real wages.

“The country is in dire straits and propaganda is not the option. Nigeria must be rescued and rebuilt in the interest of the people,” Piwuna said.

While expressing cautious optimism, ASUU said it hoped the Federal Government would fully implement the agreement without the need for strike threats, adding that past experiences had made the union wary.