- Alausa Leads FG Team in Fresh Bid to Settle ASUU Agreement
- The talks are expected to provide a clear timetable for signing and phased implementation of the renegotiated pact
- The 2009 agreement was signed during the administration of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration
A decisive meeting is set to take place in Abuja today as the federal government prepares to table a counter offer to the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, in an effort to end the lingering dispute over the 2009 agreement.
Eko Hot Blog gathered that the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, will join the Minister of Labour, officials of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, and the Solicitor General to meet ASUU leaders.
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The talks are expected to provide a clear timetable for signing and phased implementation of the renegotiated pact.
The urgency comes amid mounting warnings from ASUU branches across the country that their patience has run out.
The union insists that the draft agreement, concluded in December 2024 and formally submitted to government in February 2025, must now be signed to avert another nationwide shutdown of public universities.
At a recent briefing in Abuja, the Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Prof. Al-Amin Abdullahi, maintained that the union had fulfilled its obligations and demanded that government demonstrate commitment by adopting the report without delay.
The 2009 agreement, signed during the administration of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, promised far-reaching reforms in the nation’s university system, including revitalisation funding, improved welfare for academics, greater institutional autonomy, and a monitoring framework for implementation.
Its partial or non-implementation by successive governments has repeatedly triggered industrial action.
Analysts estimate that strikes since 1999 have cost the education system nearly five years of lost academic time, further eroding confidence in public universities.
Stakeholders, however, note that the current effort is distinct, citing the approach of Education Minister Alausa, who has combined short-term interventions with long-term structural reforms.
Earlier this year, the Tinubu administration released N50 billion to settle earned academic allowances that had accumulated for almost two decades.
The move, widely credited to Alausa’s intervention, was seen across campuses as a sign of restored trust.
Beyond arrears, Alausa also introduced the Diaspora BRIDGE Initiative, a digital platform connecting Nigerian professionals abroad with local universities for mentorship, research collaboration, guest lectures, and curriculum support.
Policy experts such as Dr. Dakuku Peterside and Prof. Yemi Oke have praised the initiative as a practical step toward transforming brain drain into brain circulation.
Today’s meeting is expected to reconcile the Yayale Ahmed draft of December 2024 with the original 2009 agreement and subsequent reports, including the Nimi Briggs recommendations.
Officials say the outcome should map phased fiscal commitments into the national budget and produce a legally binding document for implementation.
