In a major breakthrough, FG and ASUU sign the 2025 agreement unveiling 40% pay rise via CONUASS and enhanced CATA, new allowances for professors (₦1.74m/year), and commitments to stable academic calendars starting January 2026
FG & ASUU Ink Landmark 2025 Deal: 40% Pay Hike, New Professorial Allowances Signal End to Decades of Disruptions
Nigeria’s tertiary education sector has received a massive boost with the unveiling of the 2025 Federal Government–ASUU Agreement, a comprehensive pact designed to enhance lecturers’ welfare, restore industrial harmony, and guarantee uninterrupted academic calendars in federal universities.
The agreement was formally presented on Wednesday in Abuja by Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, who hailed it as a historic milestone that rebuilds trust and revives confidence in the system after years of recurring strikes.
“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.
The minister credited President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his direct, hands-on leadership in resolving the long-standing crisis: “For the first time in our history, a sitting President confronted this challenge head-on and gave it the leadership attention it truly deserved,” he said, adding that the administration chose “dialogue over discord, reform over delay, and resolution over rhetoric.”
At the core of the deal is a 40 per cent upward review of academic staff emoluments, approved by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) and effective from January 1, 2026. Salaries will now combine the Consolidated University Academic Staff Salary (CONUASS) with a strengthened Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA), which supports critical academic needs like journal publications, conferences, internet access, professional memberships, and book development—vital tools to boost global competitiveness and stem brain drain.
The agreement restructures nine Earned Academic Allowances, making them transparent, merit-based, and directly tied to duties such as postgraduate supervision, fieldwork, clinical work, examinations, and leadership roles.
In a groundbreaking move for Nigeria’s university system, the government introduced a Professorial Cadre Allowance for full-time Professors and Readers. Professors will receive ₦1.74 million annually (₦140,000 monthly), while Readers get ₦840,000 annually (₦70,000 monthly). This recognizes their extensive academic, administrative, and research responsibilities.
“This intervention is not cosmetic. It is structural, practical and transformative,” the minister said.
Alausa praised President Tinubu’s “uncommon, courageous and people-centred leadership,” noting that persistent dialogue, fiscal discipline, and mutual respect paved the way for this breakthrough after over two decades of challenges.
He assured full implementation under the Renewed Hope Agenda, with ongoing engagement and reforms in education. The minister also commended the negotiating teams—led by Alhaji Yayale Ahmed for the government and Professor Pius Piwuna for ASUU—along with the previous ASUU leadership under Professor Emmanuel Osodeke.
“History will remember today not just as an unveiling ceremony,” Alausa concluded, “but as the day Nigeria chose dialogue, transparency and strong presidential commitment as the pathway to resolving long-standing governance challenges.”
Stakeholders view the agreement as ushering in an era of stability, predictability, and excellence for Nigerian universities—finally offering renewed hope to students, parents, and the academic community after years of uncertainty.
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