FG and ASUU Meet Today as Alausa Leads Final Push to Resolve 2009 Agreement

A decisive meeting is expected in Abuja today as the federal government tables a counter offer to the Academic Staff Union of Universities, aiming to convert years of stalled talks on the 2009 FGN ASUU agreement into clear and implementable commitments.

Education Minister Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa is due to join the Minister of Labour, the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission, and the Solicitor General to meet ASUU leaders and agree on a timetable for signature and phased implementation. The urgency follows warnings from ASUU branches nationwide after a renegotiation process concluded in December 2024 and was submitted to government in February 2025.

ASUU insists the draft must be signed and implemented to avert another nationwide shutdown of public universities. At a recent briefing, Abuja Zonal Coordinator Prof Al Amin Abdullahi said the union had fulfilled its obligations and expects the government to adopt the report without delay.

The 2009 agreement signed under the late President Umaru Musa YarAdua promised revitalisation funding, institutional autonomy, a negotiated salary and conditions package for academics, and a monitoring framework. Its partial or non implementation across successive administrations has triggered recurring strikes. Analysts estimate that since 1999 disruptions by ASUU and other unions amount to nearly five years of lost academic time.

Officials say the current process differs in approach under Minister Alausa, combining immediate fixes with structural reforms. Earlier this year the Tinubu administration released N50 billion to offset earned academic allowances owed across campuses, a move credited to Alausa that many saw as a restoration of trust. Beyond arrears, Alausa launched the Diaspora BRIDGE Initiative, a digital platform linking Nigerian professionals abroad with local universities for mentorship, guest lectures, research collaboration, and curriculum support. Policy voices including Dr Dakuku Peterside and Prof Yemi Oke have praised the effort as a shift from brain drain to brain circulation.

Today’s meeting is expected to tackle the reconciliation of the Yayale Ahmed draft concluded in December 2024 with the original 2009 text and subsequent reports such as the Nimi Briggs recommendations, map phased fiscal commitments into the national budget, and produce a legally sound instrument for signature.