ASUU Threatens Fresh Strike Over Poor Pay as Govt Meets on 2009 Agreement

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may be heading for another showdown with the Federal Government as lecturers decry poor pay and conditions of service.

The union, which staged nationwide protests on Tuesday, says it will now hold congresses to decide its next line of action. At the heart of the dispute is the stalled renegotiation of the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement, which was concluded in December 2024 and formally submitted to government in February this year.

Although President Bola Tinubu’s administration recently released ₦50bn to settle earned allowances, ASUU insists the real issues—salary review, university funding, autonomy, and a review of laws guiding tertiary education—remain unresolved.

Today, government officials including the Ministers of Education and Labour, alongside the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, are meeting to harmonise the draft agreement with earlier recommendations, including the Nimi Briggs report, and to work out a phased implementation plan. However, ASUU president Prof. Chris Piwuna confirmed the union was not invited.

Lecturers have long complained about poor pay. Documents show professors earn between ₦525,000 and ₦633,000 monthly under the current structure, while graduate assistants take home about ₦125,000. After deductions, some professors reportedly earn closer to ₦300,000.

Former UNILAG Vice Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, described the situation as “demoralising,” noting that lecturers are abandoning the system due to poor welfare. Similarly, Prof. Tunde Adeoye of UNILAG’s Economics Department warned that without urgent salary review, another shutdown of universities is inevitable.

ASUU leaders say stagnant pay has crippled morale, reduced academic output, and worsened brain drain, while politicians continue to push for their own pay increases.