When the administration of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua signed the now-infamous October 2009 agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), few could have imagined it would become one of the longest-running disputes in Nigeria’s education sector.
Nearly 16 years on, EKO HOT BLOG observes that the pact continues to stir friction between the federal government and university lecturers, with successive administrations, including that of Yar’Adua’s then-deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, failing to fully honour its provisions.
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The 2009 agreement followed months of negotiations between the federal government and ASUU. It was meant to tackle systemic problems such as inadequate funding, poor infrastructure, and academic staff welfare.
Key commitments included increased funding for university infrastructure, improved pension and retirement benefits, competitive salaries and allowances for lecturers, and expanded funding for research and development.
But while the 51-page document was hailed as a landmark at the time, implementation has been patchy. ASUU argues that the federal government has consistently failed to meet most of the promises, especially those requiring sustainable financial commitments. Worse still, inflation eroded the value of the initial financial benchmarks, making even partial implementation inadequate.
Strikes as a recurring weapon
Since 2009, ASUU has embarked on repeated strike actions to force implementation. The union has declared at least 16 strikes between 1999 and 2022, including a nine-month strike in 2020, the longest in Nigeria’s history.
That action, suspended in December 2020, led to the inauguration of a renegotiation committee chaired by Prof. Munzali Jubril. The committee drafted new recommendations in 2021, but they were never signed.
As ASUU kicked off its 16th strike in 23 years in February 2022, the federal government appointed a team led by Prof. Nimi Briggs in March 2022 to renegotiate the 2009 agreement with ASUU. The team produced a draft agreement described as the product of “collective bargaining” in August 2022 but the federal government refused to sign it, saying it could not agree to a deal that it could not implement.
The strike went on until October 14, 2022, when the striking lecturers agreed with the government to suspend the industrial action.
Since 2017, at least four committees have been set up to renegotiate the agreement, beginning with the Wale Babalakin team, followed by Jubril, then Briggs, and most recently the Yayale Ahmed-led panel, reconstituted in October 2024. Ahmed’s report was submitted in February 2025, but according to ASUU, it has yet to be acted upon by the current administration.
“The present administration has continued to employ delay tactics, even after receiving the Yayale Ahmed report,” Anthony Odiwe, chairman of ASUU’s Obafemi Awolowo University branch, said during a protest on campus this week.
Fresh Protests, Fresh Warnings
On Monday and Tuesday, ASUU branches across the country staged peaceful protests, warning of another nationwide strike if the government failed to move quickly. At OAU, lecturers carried placards with inscriptions such as “We Say No To Loans,” “Pay Our Retirees,” and “Lecturers Are Not Slaves.”
At a separate briefing in Abuja, Prof. Al-Amin Abdullahi, ASUU’s Zonal Coordinator, said it was disheartening that a renegotiated agreement concluded in December 2024 was still unsigned. The Ibadan zone of the union also demanded immediate implementation of the Yayale Ahmed report.
National President of ASUU, Christopher Piwuna, speaking in Jos last Thursday, warned that unless the federal government took “concrete steps” by the union’s meeting with the government on Thursday, August 28, the union may have no choice but to declare a fresh strike. He accused the federal government of broken promises and “deaf ears” to repeated letters and engagement attempts.
Tinubu administration’s Dilemma
The Tinubu administration has often boasted that under its watch there has been no ASUU strike, a significant political talking point given the disruption students and parents suffered in the past. But the lecturers argue that this has only been achieved through patience on their part, not through genuine reforms.
Their key demands remain the same: implementation of the renegotiated 2009 agreement, sustainable funding and revitalisation of universities, payment of withheld salary arrears, outstanding promotion benefits, and the remittance of third-party deductions.
For Nigerian students, the looming threat of yet another disruption brings fresh anxiety. Many recall the uncertainty of 2020 and 2022, when university calendars were thrown into chaos.
FURTHER READING
Observers say the only way forward is for the federal government to honestly engage with ASUU, confront the financial and structural gaps in the system, and prevent the cycle of strikes that have defined the last two decades. For now, the 2009 agreement remains a source of endless headaches, 16 years and counting.
Philip Ibitoye is a Special Correspondent with EKO HOT BLOG. Click here to find daily analysis and critical insight on trending issues in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria.
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