FG, ASUU Sign Historic Agreement to End University Strikes, Approve 40% Pay Rise
In a landmark move expected to stabilise Nigeria’s tertiary education system, the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have reached a comprehensive agreement aimed at improving lecturers’ welfare, ensuring industrial harmony and ending decades of disruptions in public universities.
The agreement, tagged the 2025 Federal Government–ASUU Agreement, was unveiled on Wednesday in Abuja by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, who described it as a historic turning point that restores trust and confidence in the nation’s university system after years of strikes and instability.
“This is more than the unveiling of a document. It symbolises renewed trust, restored confidence and a decisive turning point in the history of Nigeria’s tertiary education system,” Alausa said.
He attributed the breakthrough to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s direct intervention, noting that it marked the first time a sitting president had personally confronted and resolved a long-standing crisis that repeatedly disrupted academic calendars and affected millions of students.
“For the first time in our history, a sitting President confronted this challenge head-on and gave it the leadership attention it truly deserved,” the minister said, adding that the administration opted for “dialogue over discord, reform over delay, and resolution over rhetoric.”
A major highlight of the agreement is a 40 per cent upward review of university lecturers’ salaries, approved by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), with effect from January 1, 2026.
Under the new framework, academic remuneration will comprise the Consolidated University Academic Staff Salary (CONUASS) and an enhanced Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA). The improved CATA is designed to support research activities, journal publications, conference participation, internet access, professional memberships and book development, in a bid to enhance global competitiveness and curb brain drain.
Read Also:
The agreement also restructures nine Earned Academic Allowances, which are now clearly defined, transparently earned and directly tied to specific academic responsibilities such as postgraduate supervision, fieldwork, clinical duties, examinations and leadership roles.
In another first for Nigeria’s university system, the Federal Government approved a Professorial Cadre Allowance for full-time Professors and Readers in recognition of their academic, administrative and research responsibilities.
Under the scheme, Professors will receive N1.74 million annually (N140,000 monthly), while Readers will earn N840,000 annually (N70,000 monthly).
According to Alausa, the allowance is intended to strengthen research coordination, academic documentation and administrative efficiency, enabling senior academics to focus more on teaching, mentorship and innovation.
“This intervention is not cosmetic. It is structural, practical and transformative,” he said.
The minister assured Nigerians of the Federal Government’s commitment to the full implementation of the agreement under the Renewed Hope Agenda, pledging sustained engagement and continuous reforms in the education sector.
He also commended members of both negotiating teams—led by Alhaji Yayale Ahmed for the Federal Government and Professor Pius Piwuna for ASUU—as well as the immediate past ASUU leadership under Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, for laying the groundwork for the historic agreement.
Stakeholders believe the deal ushers in a new era of stability and excellence in Nigerian universities, restoring predictability to academic calendars and renewed hope to students and parents nationwide.
“With this agreement sealed,” Alausa said, “history will remember today not just as an unveiling ceremony, but as the day Nigeria chose dialogue, transparency and strong presidential commitment as the pathway to resolving long-standing governance challenges.”
By PRNigeria
