The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expressed happiness following the approval by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of a 40 percent salary increase for university lecturers, after the successful renegotiation of the 2009 agreement between ASUU and the Federal Government.

ASUU announced that the agreement was reached on December 23, 2025, bringing to an end negotiations that had lasted for eight years since 2017.

The prolonged negotiations were due to the Federal Government’s failure to review the 2009 agreement in 2012, a situation that led to frequent strike actions over the years.

In a statement issued on December 24, 2025, the union said the new agreement is designed to revive the public university system in Nigeria by addressing long-standing challenges such as inadequate funding, university autonomy, academic freedom, and the increasing brain drain.

Beyond the salary increase, the agreement also includes improved working conditions, renewed pension provisions for professors, a special budgetary framework for universities, and proposals for the establishment of a National Research Council to be funded with at least one percent of Nigeria’s economy.