The Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) are set to sign a fresh agreement on Wednesday, January 14, aimed at ending prolonged industrial disputes and improving conditions in Nigeria’s public university system.
Findings at the Federal Ministry of Education indicate that the agreement, which follows the conclusion of long-stalled negotiations, will focus on strengthening industrial harmony and addressing key welfare and funding concerns raised by the union.
An official invitation issued by the ministry through its University Education Department and addressed to vice-chancellors and registrars of federal universities confirmed the planned signing ceremony.
The new agreement is expected to include a 40 per cent salary increase for academic staff, alongside significantly enhanced pension benefits. Under the proposed pension structure, professors would retire at the age of 70 and earn pensions equivalent to their full annual salaries, meeting one of ASUU’s long-standing demands.
It also introduces a revised funding framework for universities, with dedicated allocations for research, libraries, laboratories, equipment, and staff development.
A circular dated January 5, 2025, described the agreement as a major milestone in the ongoing engagement between the Federal Government and ASUU. The ministry said the deal reflects the government’s commitment to industrial peace, improved teaching and learning conditions, and the sustainable development of tertiary education, in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The planned signing follows the conclusion of the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement in December 2025, after more than 16 years of stalled talks. The renegotiated deal was finalised on December 23, 2025, after intensive engagements and is expected to take effect from January 1, 2026, with a review scheduled after three years.
The agreement also proposes the establishment of a National Research Council to support research funding, with a minimum allocation of one per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The 2009 agreement, which was due for renegotiation in 2012, had remained unresolved for over a decade, triggering repeated strike actions by ASUU and frequent disruptions to the academic calendar in public universities.
Several government-appointed committees attempted to renegotiate the deal over the years. The most recent was the Federal Government Tertiary Institutions Expanded Negotiation Committee, chaired by the Pro-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Yayale Ahmed, which concluded its work in October.
Earlier renegotiation efforts were led by the late Professor Nimi Briggs in 2022, Munzali Jibrin in 2021, and Wale Babalakin between 2017 and 2020, all of which produced draft agreements that were not signed or implemented.