IndyPress News Desk
The Federal Government has promised to officially sign the long-contested 2009 agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on January 14, 2026.
In addition to the signing, a 40 per cent salary increase for academic staff across all Nigerian tertiary institutions takes effect today, January 1, 2026.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed this during an appearance on Channels Television’s 2025 in Retrospect program on Wednesday. He stated that the Renewed Hope administration has finalized all components of the agreement to ensure lasting industrial harmony in the education sector.
Dr Alausa noted that the 2009 agreement had remained unoperationalized for over a decade and a half, leading to frequent disruptions in the academic calendar.
“The agreement that was entered with ASUU for 16 years was not operationalized. Today, I can tell you that academic staff members will get a 40 per cent increase on their salary starting from 2026. We will have the official signing of those agreements on the 14th of January,” the Minister said.
The Minister emphasized that the salary adjustment and the finalized pact are part of a deliberate strategy by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to end the era of university strikes permanently.
“This is what the President promised Nigerians: strikes will be gone in our public schools, and that is gone forever. We are doing the right thing to address our academic and non-academic staff issues,” Dr Alausa added.
Dr Alausa further assured Nigerians that the government’s proactive engagement with unions has already resulted in two consecutive academic sessions without a strike, a trend he promised would be sustained through the full implementation of the new welfare package.
Recall that December last year, the academic staff union shared on its official facebook page the consensus its has reached with the Federal Government on the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement.
As of the time of this filling, the academic unions have yet to release a formal statement in regards to its implementation as promised.
