ASUU: Lecturers Set for Biggest Salary Boost in Over a Decade as FG Finalises Deal
- The federal government’s proposed 40% salary rise placed Nigerian lecturers on the verge of their most significant pay adjustment in years
- ASUU’s National Executive Council moved closer to accepting the new structure after days of tension and the expiration of its one-month ultimatum
- Professors and other academic ranks recorded substantial increases as both sides also sealed agreements on allowances, autonomy and future policy reviews
Years of agitation within the university system are finally yielding results as the federal government moves toward implementing a substantial salary increase for academic staff.
The proposed 40% adjustment has placed the sector on the brink of its most significant remuneration shift in more than a decade.
Source: Twitter
Lecturers across public universities have long spoken about stagnant wages and the shrinking value of their earnings. Rising living costs and the growing burden of supporting research, transportation and housing had compounded frustrations across campuses.
ASUU-FG negotiations reach final stretch
Talks between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities appear to be nearing a conclusion. The process, led by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation Yayale Ahmed, reopened long-standing concerns about the pay structure and welfare.
By 2025, most lecturers depended on a mix of basic salary and allowances. Inflation steadily weakened this system and pushed many academics toward consultancy work, external examinations and part-time teaching.
This backdrop shaped the urgency of the current negotiation round and created the pressure that drove both sides back to the table.
Daily Trust reported that an internal document signed by ASUU President Chris Piwuna indicates that the union is now willing to accept the new salary regime, barring any last-minute change.
The union’s National Executive Council met on Sunday and reviewed the consequences of rejecting the government’s final offer after the expiration of its one-month ultimatum.
Source: Facebook
Threat of ASUU strike averted
The government invited ASUU leadership to extend meetings from Monday into Tuesday to prevent disruption in public universities. The internal document states that the willingness to accept the proposal arose from the government’s refusal to alter its offer and the risk of prolonging stagnant earnings.
According to the report:
“Government made several offers which were considered grossly inadequate and were accordingly rejected. After much push by our negotiators, a salary structure plus or minus the Nimi Briggs Committee’s recommendation was offered… NEC considered the offer and proposed that it was in our best interest to accept it.”
Breakdown of new earnings
The adjustment will significantly lift salaries across academic ranks. Graduate Assistants who currently earn between N170,000 and N220,000 per month will receive between N238,000 and N308,000.
Lecturer II staff will now earn between N350,000 and N420,000, while Lecturer I academics will move to N490,000 to N560,000. Senior lecturers will earn between N728,000 and N798,000. Professors will now take home between N1,190,000 and N1,330,000.
Other elements of agreement
Both sides also reached positions on earned academic allowances, university autonomy and a scheduled three-year review of the agreement.
Earned academic allowances will be pegged at 12 per cent of each university’s annual academic salary expenditure. The parties agreed to pursue new tax-based initiatives to improve long-term funding for tertiary education.
The document also notes that future general salary increases in the public sector will automatically reflect in academic remuneration.
Both parties reaffirmed that the appointment of governing councils must follow the Universities Act and that the trend of insisting on community indigenes as vice chancellors contradicts established merit-based procedures and should stop.
Two weeks earlier, Education Minister Dr Tunji Alausa insisted that the government had already met key demands, a position now reinforced by the outcome of the negotiations.
Strike looms as ASUU gives warning to FG
Previously, Legit.ng reported that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has issued a stern warning that it may resume a nationwide strike if the Federal Government fails to meet the union’s demands at the expiration of its one-month ultimatum.
Speaking at a press conference in Kano on Monday, the Zonal Coordinator, Comrade Abdulkadir Muhammad, said the one-month ultimatum issued to the government to meet the union’s demands was about to lapse.
Source: Legit.ng
