FG-ASUU new deal: Matters arising

In the din from endless instances of high drama in the political space, it may not be surprising that some other major developments in the country’s life may have enjoyed less than due attention. One of these is the recent new deal between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU).

In a landmark development last Wednesday, the federal government signed a new agreement with ASUU, with the aim of resolving old disputes between the two parties, as well as charting a new way forward towards a more harmonious relationship between them.

Behind the enterprise remains the need for a better university educational system for the country. Of specific intent in this context is to put an end to strikes and closures of tertiary institutions, with attendant disruptions in academic activities.

Incidentally, this new agreement is seemingly the conclusion of a renegotiation process that first began in 2001, and notionally based its outcome of the 2009 FG-ASUU pact. The negotiation had over the years progressed through a most twisted process often featuring manifest unwillingness by the government side to budge from a rather hard-line stand of the authority.

Of concern to some observers has been the disposition of even some of the university authorities who sided with successive governments in any face off with ASUU, with the result being the postponement of the emergence of viable conclusive solutions to the series of face-offs between ASUU and the government.  Eventually came the 2009 FG-ASUU agreement, which itself was due for review in 2012.

It is, therefore, for good measure that at last, the recent agreement has come to be, leaving the government to henceforth act in good faith to ensure it delivers on its own part of the bargain.

The poignancy of this new deal is accentuated by the fact that whereas several committees (among which were those chaired by Wale Babalakin, Munzali Jibrin and Nimi Briggs) had failed in the past with respect to resolving the matter, their limited success was not due to the demands of ASUU, which had been consistent. Incidentally, in all of the processes of negotiation, ASUU’s demands have never gone beyond four main challenges, which are namely, reversal of the deep-seated decay in the country’s university system, reversal of the brain-drain in the nation’s human resource landscape, restoration of the integrity of the university system through improved funding, and the burning issue of university autonomy, as well as academic freedom. Against the altruistic intent of such demands, it ever remained a puzzle why and how previous administrations failed to work along with ASUU as practicably seamless as possible. Rather, such previous administrations set up the committees and seemingly failed to provide the enabling environment for a final agreement. That was until the recent breakthrough by the Yayale Ahmed committee that is coming under the current administration, which was inaugurated in October 2024.

This new agreement, which took as many as 14 months of renegotiation, offers the promise of standing the test of time, given on one hand the concessions it embodies, and on the other hand, the disposition of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration to university education in Nigeria.  For instance, its high points include a review of the terms of the old agreement in areas like improved condition of service, funding, university autonomy, academic freedom and broader reforms to reverse sectoral decay, curbing of brain-drain and repositioning of universities for national development. With these as a backdrop, it notionally offers a hope of better times for the country’s university system.

A major provision of the agreement is also the upward review of the remuneration of academic staff in federal universities by 40 per cent, with effect from January 1, 2026. Also, under the new structure, salaries will comprise the Consolidated University Academic Staff Salary and a Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance, which accounts for the 40 per cent increment. The tools allowance is designed to support core academic activities, such as research, journal publications, conference participation, internet access, learned society membership and book procurement, with the broader objective of boosting productivity and curbing brain-drain.

The agreement also restructures 9 earned academic allowances 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. In addition, the federal government approved a new Professorial Cadre Allowance for senior academics for the first time. Under this provision, full-time professors will receive N1.74 million annually, while readers will earn N840,000 per annum, an intervention described by the government as a structural and transformative measure to recognise experience, enhance dignity and strengthen the academic profession.

Incidentally, while many may agree with the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, who described the deal as marking a renewed commitment by the administration of President Bola Tinubu to uninterrupted academic calendars and improved welfare for university lecturers, there are also those who would rather wait and see how the administration delivers on the agreement before commending the entire affair. Hence too, while Alausa effusively describes the agreement as going beyond a formal document and represents “renewed trust, restored confidence and a decisive turning point in the history of Nigeria’s tertiary education system,” a disposition of graduated doubt still hangs in the air as not a few Nigerians still rue the diminished premium successive governments had paid to the country’s education system.

Against that backdrop is coming the new deal by an administration with significant shortcomings in providing consistency in administrative culture. It is that context that the best that can be said about the new FG-ASUU agreement under the Bola Tinubu administration is: Time will tell.

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