After 16 years of industrial disputes, Nigerian university staff may be heading for relief as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accepted the Federal Government’s proposed 40 per cent pay increase. The Guardian reports that the union reached a fresh agreement with the government on December 23, 2025, bringing the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN–ASUU agreement to a close.
Under the new deal, professors will earn pensions equivalent to their annual salaries at retirement at age 70, while a proposed National Research Council will fund research with at least one per cent of Nigeria’s GDP. The agreement, announced on ASUU’s official Facebook page on Wednesday, will take effect from January 1, 2026, and be reviewed after three years.
Other highlights include improved university funding for research, libraries, laboratories and staff development, stronger institutional autonomy, elected academic leadership, and assurances of no victimisation of participants in the struggle. The dispute had centred on lecturers’ welfare and poor funding, which led to repeated strikes, deteriorating infrastructure, and disruptions to academic calendars nationwide.